Ripples - DISCONTINUED
by breezyVocalist
Summary: THE REWRITE IS LIVE AS OF YESTERDAY - SEE LATEST CHAPTER
1. I

**Hi, everyone! I'm Kalvin4444, and this is my first _Minecraft _story, _Ripples_. Before I begin, there's some things you need to know that I couldn't fit in the description. THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ TO THE END.**

**This story takes place within _Minecraft_. The characters will interact within the game. As a result, not everything will be exactly how it was in the real world.**

**This story is an AU. It takes place in July of 2014. It is based off of what I know about _Minecraft_, what I know about Team Crafted and its members, and my own personal headcanon. I don't know everything about the characters' relationships and interactions, so I am filling in the gaps. As stated before, I have made some changes. While I will try to stay as close to the source material as possible, my focus is making a good story, not getting every single little detail right.**

**Finally, I need to make one thing clear. My two main protagonists are Seto (setosorcerer) and Mitch (TheBajanCanadian). As most, if not all of you know, there has been a fair amount of drama centered around these two parties. I am writing their interactions to match. That is not to say that they hate each other forever. As stated before, this is partially based on my headcanon. I am filling in the gaps and writing their interactions as I imagine them to be.**

**All the general housekeeping information can be found in my profile. Constructive criticism and positive feedback are greatly appreciated.**

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><p>"And add a magma cream...and done!" Seto muttered to himself as he pushed the cream into the potion bottle and put it in the brewing stand. It was his last one, he noted—he would have to go to the Nether sometime for more blaze powder.<p>

The machine emitted the whirs and hisses that were so familiar to him after years of potion making. He didn't bother watching the potion turn from blue to orange. He had seen the process a thousand times. He instead turned to the small window to watch the sunset. Its beauty was magnified considerably when reflected on water. And now that there was water everywhere, he could enjoy the sight every evening.

The stunning sunset was probably the only good thing that came out of the squids' conquest of Minecraftia. Seto winced as he recalled the night that the Sky Army fell.

He had been working as medic, just like in all the other battles. On that last night, the squids had had a strange magical weapon that even he had not fully understood: the Corruption, a sword enchant that turned humans into squids. After losing so many to death or the Corruption, they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. He remembered Adam telling everyone to run, run and don't look back.

And he had fled.

Like a coward, he ran from the battle. And here he was, a month later, in a waterlogged world with a generous bounty on his head.

The sun sank below the horizon and the sky darkened into purple twilight. Seto crossed to the brewing stand and took off the newly-made fire resistance potion. He placed it on a shelf with eleven identical potions and made a mental note to find obsidian for a Nether portal.

He extended his hand, palm open, concentrating hard. The flames from the torches in the wooden one-room house snaked into his palm and turned a deep rich purple. This simple use of his magic took a lot more out of him than usual. Seto closed his hand. The fire fizzled out, leaving the house in darkness. He found his way to his bed and was asleep moments after his head hit the pillow.

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><p>Seto was jolted awake abruptly by the groans of zombies from outside. Zombies and someone else.<p>

A small purple fire sparked to life in his palm. It danced out of his hand and lit the torches. Seto extinguished the flame in his hand and rushed to the window.

Zombies swarmed a tall, lean figure. It swung a blade at its attackers, expertise obvious. The sword was crafted from pure diamond and glowed with magic.

Wait.

That sword.

Seto recognized that sword.

He had seen it nearly every day for several months in the Sky Army. He had enchanted it himself. The sword belonged to...but how? How was _he_ here?

He watched as the figure turned in his direction. Amber eyes met his own deep brown ones, confirming his suspicions.

It bolted around to the front of his house, pursued by a legion of zombies. Seto quickly deduced what it wanted. He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating hard, and willed magic into existence. He felt the tingling sensation that indicated the presence of magical energy. His hands glowed purple. He tensed, ready to let it fly.

A loud knocking rang in his ears. The door.

He cautiously opened it. The torchlight illuminated the man's face.

A once-handsome figure, marred by cuts and bruises. His brown hair was matted; his clothes—a red-and-black checkered jacket with a white undershirt and blue jeans—were torn and stained with mud. His emaciated state made them look too big and baggy.

He met Seto's gaze with those amber eyes, which almost bulged out of his face.

"Help," he gasped, before collapsing in Seto's doorway.

Seto was reeling, his mind racing to process the events he had just witnessed. How could he be here? Why _would _he be here? He wasn't even sure that they were on speaking terms!

"_Mitch?_"

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><p><strong>Once again, positive feedback and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated (however, flames are not). Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	2. II

**I can't believe how much support the first chapter has gotten! Thank you to the seven people who left reviews, the three people who favorited this, and the five people who followed it! Once again, reviews are greatly appreciated, but flames are not.**

**One more thing: I will be on vacation during a period that coincides with my updating schedule. I won't have access to my computer while on vacation. As a result, the next chapter will be a few days late. I'm really sorry about that.**

**I don't own Seto, Mitch, or Minecraft.**

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><p>Seto wasted no time in getting Mitch inside—a task easier said than done. Even in his emaciated state, Mitch was still heavier than the petite sorcerer, and Seto hadn't fared so well himself while he was on the run. But still, after a minute or two of half-carrying, half-dragging his former friend, Seto propped him up against the wall.<p>

He searched through his two chests until he came across a splash potion of regeneration. He threw it on the ground at Mitch's feet,allowing its effects to take hold, and examined him for signs of the Corruption. When he found none, he lay down on his bed. All that was left to do was wait.

As it happened, he didn't have to wait very long before he detected movement from Mitch's corner. He glanced over, and sure enough, his guest was getting to his feet.

"I see you're awake," Seto said icily.

Mitch jumped and drew his sword. His eyes had a feral quality to them that Seto didn't recall. From being on the run, perhaps?

"Seto?" His confusion was evident.

"No, it's Notch," Seto said, punctuating his sentence with an eye roll. "Of course I'm Seto. And I'd like a thank you for saving your life."

"_You_ saved _me_?"

"Of course I did. I am not a killer, Mitch."

"But I thought you were mad at me. Because of what happened in August," Mitch said.

Really? This again?

"I'm not mad about the Team Crafted thing. I'm over that now," Seto said. "What's done is done. What I'm _mad _about is that you didn't bother to make sure I was okay! You said you were going to stay in touch, which obviously wasn't true. I could have been dead, for all you knew, and you didn't give a rat's ass!"

"Seto, I would have stayed in contact with you, but I didn't know how!" Mitch shouted.

"Why not? I have a Twitter and a YouTube channel. You could have contacted me through those."

"You don't just say, 'oh hey sorry I kicked you out of our friend group let's be pals again.' These things take time! And besides, _you _didn't contact _me_," Mitch countered.

"Touché," Seto grumbled. "Now, what are we going to do? We can't stay here forever. The squids will track us down eventually. We have to go somewhere."

"Well, where can we go where we can't be found?" Mitch asked.

"Well, it can't be anyplace with water," Seto said, "so that rules out most of the Overworld. And squid-human hybrids can travel on land, so—"

"I know, I know," Mitch snapped. "I'm not stupid."

"Well, _sorry_," Seto snapped right back. "What I was _trying _to say before I was so rudely interrupted was that anyplace in the Overworld is out of the question. Unless there's a place with no water whatsoever..."

He trailed off as an idea formulated in his mind.

"That's it!" he exclaimed.

"What's it?" Mitch asked.

"I think we should go to the Nether."

"The Nether? The _Nether_? Are you _insane_?" Mitch shrieked. "Even if there are no squids, we'll die anyway! It's literally _hell_!"

"No, I'm not," Seto replied calmly. "And I'll explain why.

"My magic is fire-based. The world is flooded, so that severely weakens my abilities. That's how you found me. I would normally have a shield around this place, but I can't do that because of all the water. In the Nether, there is no water, so I can get my strength back.

"Also, since there's no water in the Nether, there are no squids. Even squid hybrids need to be in the water sometimes. Maybe even some of our friends from before will have made it there. We could have allies in the Nether, Mitch! And it's safe there! Unless they have other humans on their side..."

Mitch shook his head. "Seto, honestly, you surprise me! Do you really think the squids will have humans on their side?"

"It's a possibility!"

"No, it's not, and I'll explain why," Mitch said, mimicking Seto's tone. "The squids killed tens of thousands of people during the war with the Sky Army, and that's being conservative. Behind each of those people was a family and friends. In the case of all the—the dead YouTubers—" Mitch's voice cracked, and for a second, he sounded like he was about to cry—"that's thousands, if not millions, of fans. Virtually no one would be on their side."

"Excellent point," Seto admitted. "The Nether it is then. Do you have any obsidian?"

"Obviously not," Mitch said. "I've been barely scraping by. You?"

"A griefer stole all of mine, and I haven't found the time to find more," Seto replied. "But I have a diamond pick and some water, so we could get more. We should probably leave soon."

"Tomorrow morning," Mitch suggested, or rather, demanded. "Is that good?"

"Yes," Seto said. "Let's start packing."

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><p><strong>Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	3. III

**Welcome to chapter 3 of _Ripples_. Thank you to anyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this. Once again, reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. It lets me know that someone actually took the time to read and comment on my work. If you could leave a review (or a comment if you're coming from the TC website), that would be great. **

**Once again, I don't own Seto, Mitch, or Minecraft.**

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><p>Seto was awake at dawn. He crawled out of bed and nudged Mitch, who had opted to sleep on the floor, with his foot.<p>

"Mitch, wake up," he said. "We're leaving!"

Mitch sat bolt upright, looking around wildly. He relaxed slightly when he saw Seto standing over him.

"Oh, it's you," he said with a hint of distaste. Seto chose to ignore it and passed Mitch a satchel.

"In here I have some food, a stack of torches, three healing potions, and three fire resistance potions for the Nether. Please use them wisely—I don't have any more."

Mitch nodded.

"We should probably go," he said, drawing his sword.

"Yes, let's." Seto grabbed another, larger satchel, his sword, and the diamond pickaxe.

As soon as they were out of the house, Seto whipped out a flint and steel and set the house ablaze.

"What'd you do that for?" a flabbergasted Mitch exclaimed.

"I'm covering up my tracks," Seto said calmly. "It's harder to track me down that way. I saved all of the expensive stuff, though."

Mitch nodded. "Let's get going."

Seto started digging a staircase into the ground, and Mitch followed behind silently. It was only when they found a ravine that they actually spoke to each other.

"Careful!" Seto shouted. "There's a ravine."

"You think I don't know that?" Mitch snapped.

"You were about to run over the edge," Seto said, "but that's beside the point. How are we going to get down? I don't have any ender pearls."

Mitch sighed. "Watch and learn. Give me the pick."

Seto handed him the diamond instrument. He dug one block over and started digging straight down.

"What are you doing?" he called after him. "Didn't anyone ever tell you never to dig straight down?"

"When I was, according to you, about to run over the edge, I was actually checking to see if I could dig straight down. It's a sheer surface with no caves or anything I could fall in. We're fine."

"How am _I _going to get down?"

"Jump down here!" Mitch yelled. "You can survive the fall."

Seto looked. Mitch wasn't that far below him. He could make it.

"Okay, I'm jumping!"

"Hold on, don't jump yet," Mitch called. "Let me move out of the way first!"

A pause.

"Okay, jump!"

Seto closed his eyes. He breathed in. And out.

And he jumped.

The fall itself was a brief rush. It didn't even last a second. The landing snapped his legs with a sickening _crack._ Pain blossomed in his shins, and he crumpled to the stone beneath him.

"Are you okay?" Mitch asked.

"I just jumped off a ledge and broke both my legs," Seto gasped through the agony. "Of course I'm not okay. I'm going to take a potion. Just give me a minute. And wait for me. I'm not jumping again."

Seto searched through his bag, eventually coming across a magenta healing potion. He drank it and let the effects take hold. The pain subsided as his bones knit them back together. After a minute, he stood again.

"Let's try something new," Mitch suggested. "We'll build a two-block shaft like we have now. I'll stand on one block and you'll stand on the other. I'll dig down one block and hand the pick off to you. You dig down two blocks and hand it off to me. Then I'll dig down two blocks, and so on and so forth until we reach the bottom. Sound good?"

Seto nodded.

"Good. Let's go."

They reached the bottom of the ravine unharmed. Mitch placed down a torch, revealing several mobs that were coming toward them.

They drew their swords: Mitch's battered diamond blade and Seto's newer, albeit less powerful, iron one. The mobs were easily dispatched.

"Let's go that way," Mitch said, gesturing to his left.

They proceeded in that direction, exchanging no words, only pausing to get a bucket of water. Later—Seto was unsure of how much later, though it certainly felt like a long time, they caught sight of light around a corner.

"There!" Mitch exclaimed. They quickened their pace and rounded the corner. Sure enough, a pool of lava lay ahead of them.

Seto dumped out the water, letting it run over the lava and form obsidian. He handed the pickaxe to Mitch.

"You wouldn't mind getting the obsidian, would you? I can't really be in water because of my magic. Usually, it wouldn't be a problem, but there's so much water everywhere else..."

Mitch rolled his eyes, but took it anyway.

"You and your magic...doesn't it cause more problems than it fixes sometimes?"

Seto felt something like rage well up in him. He cast a glare at Mitch, who took a cautious step back.

"Hey, I'm just saying...it seems that it's more of a hindrance than a help to you."

"It's just the water that's causing problems," Seto said. "Trust me, it'll be more useful in the Nether."

Mitch shrugged and continued mining the obsidian. Seto stood guard, keeping an eye out for squids or other mobs. A few minutes later, Mitch climbed out of the water.

"Here's the obsidian," he said, thrusting it at Seto. "Can you get the portal built so that we can get out of this cave?"

Seto nodded, quickly constructing the frame. He extended his hand. A small violet flame ignited in his palm. Using most of his energy, he willed it to leap into the arch.

A shimmering purple haze materialized in the frame. Seto leaned against it, waiting for the fatigue he felt to subside. He downed the pale orange fire resistance potion. Mitch did the same.

"Ready to go?" Seto asked.

Mitch nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

And they stepped through.

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><p>Seto stepped neatly onto the netherrack ground when he exited the portal. Mitch followed closely behind, stumbling.<p>

"How can you stay on your feet?" he asked incredulously.

"Practice," Seto answered.

"Okay, we made it to the Nether," Mitch said with a hint of a challenge in his voice. "Now what?"

"We find a Nether fortress, I'll get the potion ingredients I needed, we build a place, and stay here for the time being," Seto said as he deconstructed the portal.

An odd look came over Mitch's face.

"Wait. So you're telling me that I'm stuck with you indefinitely?"

"It's only until the squids are no longer in power!" Seto protested. "Then we can go back to the Overworld and never speak to each other again."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm stuck with you until the squids are no longer in power!"

"Do you have any better ideas?"

Mitch was silent.

"That's what I thought. Now, are we going to find a Nether fortress or not?"

Seto didn't wait for a response. He turned and started walking away.

"Well, what if I didn't follow you?" he heard Mitch shout.

"You can do that," Seto shouted back. "Suit yourself. But I know you've never been to the Nether, so if you want to get roasted alive, then you can leave."

A moment late, Mitch caught up. Seto chose to ignore him.

"How's your magic?"

"Give me some time," Seto said. "We're not in any danger at the moment."

And they weren't. The only signs of trouble were the far-off cries of ghasts.

They cautiously made their way through the treacherous terrain of the Nether. Seto decided to pretend that Mitch wasn't there, that he was traveling through the realm alone.

Only this time, there wasn't a home for him to go back to.

Seto returned violently to reality when Mitch screamed. He whirled around and saw him clutching his right arm.

"What happened?"

Mitch gestured upward with his good arm.

"_That _happened!"

Seto looked. A massive white figure sailed through the air. A ghast.

Those far-off cries weren't as far-off as he had thought.

"Oh, shit. Shit. Run!"

They ran, fireballs whizzing past.

"Running's no good!" Mitch exclaimed. "It knows we're here! What do we do?"

"Use your sword to deflect its fireballs back at it! If you hit it, you'll kill it."

"Why can't you use your magic to kill the damn thing?"

"Just give me a minute!" Seto snapped. "Cover me."

Mitch started shakily deflecting the fireballs. Seto stood behind him, palm out. He waited.

A warm, tingly sensation rushed down his arm. A single purple spark danced in his hand.

Then two.

Then four.

Finally, a deep purple flame blazed to life in his palm. No fatigue accompanied it. A grin spread across his face.

"Stand back," he muttered to Mitch. "I've got this."

Seto extended his right arm. The warm tingly feeling returned. In less than a second, he had a flaming orb of deep purple magic hovering just above his palm. Using all his strength, he flung the orb at the ghast.

The combination of the heat and magic vaporized the creature instantly. White dust cascaded harmlessly to the ground, accompanied by a lone ghast tear, which Seto pocketed. He started laughing.

"What the hell is so damn funny? I almost died?" Mitch sputtered.

"I'm sorry," Seto said. "It just feels so good to use magic again! Come here."

Mitch took a tentative step forward. Seto noted that he had a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I'm not going to blast you," he added.

Mitch walked the rest of the way. Seto laid a hand on the burn.

Mitch jerked away. "What are you doing?"

"I would be healing your arm if you would calm down!"

"I could just take a potion, you know that?" he said, reaching into his bag.

"Yes, but potions are hard to replace, and healing magic isn't too difficult for me if I'm in the Nether," Seto explain. "Now come here."

Mitch sighed and walked over. Seto pressed his hand to the burn, channeling his magic. When he removed his hand, the burn was gone without a trace.

Mitch examined the area where the burn had been.

"Impressive. Now come on! We're getting sidetracked."

Mitch started climbing a hill. He reached the top and a moment later, turned around.

"I think you need to see this," he said to Seto.

He scrambled up the hill to where Mitch was.

A collection of small nether brick buildings lay at the base of the hill. A network of gravel paths connected them. On the outskirts were farms of mushrooms and nether warts. A few people ambled along the paths, occasionally stopping to greet a neighbor.

"It looks like a village..." Seto said. "But why would a village be in the Nether.

"I think that we should go visit it," Mitch said.

"Sure," Seto replied sarcastically. "Let's go visit this village in the middle of hell. Never mind that it could be a squid outpost or some other hostile group that wants to kill us. No, let's just walk in."

"Seto, you yourself said that we could have allies in the Nether. This could also be a village of former Sky Army recruits," Mitch retorted.

"Good point."

They made their way down the hill and entered the village. Seto had a hand on his sword, ready to draw it if the need arose.

They were soon stopped by a pair of men in crimson uniforms. Guards.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Mitch asked one.

"Unfortunately, there is," the guard responded. "The law states that any non-members of the colony of Netheria, such as you two, must be detained for questioning."

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><p><strong>Remember to please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	4. IV

**Welcome back! Just so you know, there is some language in this chapter, mostly at the beginning, as well as some brief suggestive content.**

**So this is chapter 4. Very sorry about the late upload. Between vacation and writer's block, it took a LOT longer than expected. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed. **

**I'm going back to school on Wednesday, so updates might be late. I'm sorry about that, but there's nothing I can do.**

**I do not own _Minecraft _or any of the YouTubers in this chapter.**

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><p>"This is all your fault," Mitch hissed from his corner of their cell.<p>

"_My _fault?" Seto exclaimed incredulously from the opposite corner as he tugged at the iron bands around his wrists. They were engraved with runes that kept him from using his magic. "How is it my fault?"

"Whose idea was it to visit the Nether?"

"I know, but whose idea was it to visit the hell village?" Seto snapped. "We didn't _have _to go to the hell village. I warned you about the hell village. I said, 'Mitch, what if it's a hostile group that wants us dead?' But no, you said. Let's go to the hell village, you said."

"Well maybe, just maybe, if _someone _hadn't had the bright idea to live in the Nether, we wouldn't be in prison right now!" Mitch shouted.

"Well, what was the alternative? Get murdered by squids?"

"I don't know!" Mitch replied sarcastically. "_Not _get murdered by squids, perhaps?"

"Wow, why didn't _I _think of that?" Seto asked through gritted teeth. "Not getting murdered by squids—what a _novel _idea! It's not like that's the reason we're in the Nether or anything! No—we're only in the Nether to make your life miserable. But that's beside the point. I saved your life, and you should be fucking grateful—"

"Grateful? _Grateful_?" Mitch shouted. "For _what_? That I'm stuck with a pretentious asshole who treats me like an idiot? That I got dragged along on your insane mission into hell?"

"No, you should be grateful that I saved you despite the fact that you've treated me like crap!" Seto replied, raising his voice significantly. "And if I had known you were going to be a little bitch, maybe I wouldn't have."

"_You're_ calling _me_ a bitch?" Mitch said, and laughed humorlessly. "What did I ever do to you?"

"All you've done this whole time is berate and insult me!" Seto shrieked.

"You _always _do this!" Mitch snarled. He stalked over and pinned Seto against the Nether brick wall, leaning in until their faces were within three inches. "You always play the victim! Can you just take some _responsibility _for _once_?"

Seto squirmed under Mitch's grip. "Let go of me, you—"

"Um, is this a bad time?"

They whirled around to see one of the crimson-uniformed guards standing in the doorway of their cell. Mitch took two hasty steps backward.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear!" he said hastily, suddenly developing an interest in his shoes. "We were just having a discussion..."

Seto's face heated up at the thought of what they were doing might have looked like from the guard's perspective.

For a moment, it looked like the guard would turn around and leave, but then he regained his composure.

"You two have to come with me," he said. "The mayor would like to talk to you personally. Says you're similar to some people he used to know."

They exited the cell and the guard escorted them down a series of generic-looking Nether brick hallways. Finally, they reached a plain iron door.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mitch said to Seto. "Knock."

Seto reached up and knocked tentatively.

"Just a moment!" a slightly muffled, but familiar voice said on the other side.

After a moment, the door opened with a click. They stepped in, poised to run if they had to. But any urge to run disappeared when they saw who was there to greet them.

"I _knew _it was you!" he said, a broad grin spreading across his face. "It's been forever!"

They just stared. Mitch was first to find his voice.

"Ian? Is that you?"

"Well of course it's me!" he said. "Don't tell me you forgot about me!"

"No! Not at all!" Mitch replied. "_Some people _weren't expecting to run into anyone down here, least of all someone we knew."

He cast Seto a look that clearly said, _I told you so_.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Seto said with a sigh. "I was wrong. But there's no need to rub it in! Anyway, what is all this, Ian?"

"This," he said with a flourish, "is Netheria. Original name, I know, but it was the best I could come up with on the fly. You probably already know that I'm the mayor.

"Following the attack on the Sky Army base, I escaped to the Nether through your portal, Seto. Some recruits along with several of our old friends followed me in."

"Who? Who made it?" Mitch perked up and leaned forward in his seat.

"Not a lot of people," Ian admitted. "Ant survived. So did MunchingBrotato and Ashley. All three of them are in Spawn City now."

"Why?" Seto asked. "What's in Spawn City?"

Ian sighed. "It's a long story," he said, "so let's start at the beginning.

"We—meaning myself and our other friends who escaped—believe that Adam is still alive. Ant, Ashley, and Tyler are trying to find him at the moment. Once that's done, we'll restore the Sky Army, retake Minecraftia, and then things will go back to normal."

"Sounds ambitious," Mitch commented. "Why are you telling us?"

"You asked," Ian replied with a shrug. "But now that you mentioned it, I think I want you guys to be part of the resistance."

"Us?" Seto asked. "Why us?"

"Yes, why us?' Mitch chimed in. "We don't work well together at all!"

"Actually, while you don't get along like the best of friends, you actually worked together pretty well fighting off the Ghast," Ian retorted. "There's definitely potential. And besides, it's not just about you anymore. It's about everyone we lost to the squids. It's about Adam. Ty. Jason. Ryan. Quentin. Jerome. Bash. Lancey. Preston. Vikk. Rob. Mat. Bonkers. Kyle. Brice—"

"Stop! Stop!" Seto shouted suddenly. "We get it! Right, Mitch?"

He looked in Mitch's direction. Mitch nodded, but Seto could only focus on the obvious pain in his eyes.

_Of course_, he realized. _Most of his friends are dead, too._

"So," Ian said shakily. "Have you made your decision?"

But the decision had already been made.

"Yes."

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><p><strong>Yeah...I killed a lot of people off-screen (off-page?). I'M SORRY! Spoiler alert: not everyone who is presumed dead is actually dead. Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	5. V

**Okay. I think I have some explaining to do. First off, I'm terribly sorry this chapter is a week late. Writer's block and school do not mix well. This is what I talked about when I said updates would be late.**

**Welcome to chapter 5 of Ripples. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed.**

**Brief explanation for a few things in this chapter: I'm making the Sky Army base Adam's Minecraft server. For the sake of the story, it is located in the mountains and there is a staircase that leads out of the base in case someone needed to evacuate.**

**I do not own _Minecraft _or any of the YouTubers in this chapter.**

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><p>Seto stayed for what he estimated was a week in Ian's house in Netheria. He passed the time by enchanting the contents of the Netheria armory. He saw little of Mitch during his stay, and was grateful for that.<p>

On the seventh day, he woke to a letter from Ian:

_Meet me outside my office. You and Mitch are going back to the Overworld today._

A pit of dread settled in his stomach at the thought of returning to the Overworld. Being without his magic before arriving in the Nether had given him a feeling of vulnerability that he hadn't noticed until it was lifted. He shuddered at the thought of experiencing that powerlessness again.

But still, he dressed and found his way to Ian's office. Ian and Mitch lingered outside the iron door.

"I'm sorry," Seto said hastily. "Did I keep you waiting?"

"Not at all," Ian reassured him. "Now, you're going to the Overworld through the Netheria portal, which is kept under lock and key in my office. Once there, you will travel to Spawn City, where you will meet up with Tyler, Ashley, and Ant. I sent them a message informing them of your arrival, and they are expecting you."

Ian flicked a lever, opening the iron door.

"Your swords are by the door to the portal room. You'll know it when you see it. And one more thing: the other side of the portal is in Seto's library, which is directly under the old Sky Army base. There aren't any squids in the actual library, but once you get out, there are a lot of them. Good luck and be careful."

Mitch nodded. "See you around, Ian."

The three embraced.

When they broke apart, Seto and Mitch entered Ian's office. They quickly located the portal room and flicked the lever to get in. The portal was already activated, and it glowed with a faint purple light. Without a word, they stepped through.

* * *

><p>Seto landed neatly on the plush ruby carpet of his former home, and was immediately hit by a pang of nostalgia. He had forgotten how much he loved this place.<p>

He walked over to one of the bookshelves and ran a finger down the spine of one of the books. It glowed with a faint purple light and floated off of the bookshelf to hover in midair. He did the same with five other books, and they orbited his head in a slow circle.

"Seto, what are you doing?"

Seto turned. Mitch was watching him with a bemused expression written on his face. He had forgotten about his presence.

"Nothing," Seto muttered. He tapped each of the books, and they drifted back to their original spots.

"Are we going or not?" Mitch snapped, brushing past Seto as he strode down an aisle of bookshelves.

"Wait!" Seto called. "It's a maze."

"Why is it a maze?" Mitch asked.

"To keep people like you out," Seto said tonelessly. Mitch winced at the insult. "Okay, that was mean. But it _is _designed to keep people out so I won't be interrupted when I'm working. Follow me."

They made their way through the narrow paths between the bookshelves that made up the maze, Seto leading the way, Mitch following hesitantly. Eventually, they reached a wooden staircase spiraling upward.

"See? Here's the way out," Seto said. "But you should have your sword out. There are wards down here to keep the squids out, but once we get upstairs, there aren't any, so they're free to move about on the surface."

They drew their swords and proceeded up the spiral staircase. It creaked ominously with each step, but they reached the top step without incident. A closed wooden door waited at the top.

"Well, here goes," Seto muttered, pushing the door open.

He turned his head away from the sunlight that streamed in through the open door.

"Was the house always this bright?" Seto asked.

"It might help that parts of the wall are missing," Mitch said.

Seto looked, his eyes having adjusted to the light, and gasped. A large piece of the opposite wall of his old house was completely gone. Beyond it, he could see what was left of Adam's server.

Blue water covered the entire server hub. The clay and quartz blocks that had once made up the paths between minigames were crumbling. Many of the minigame hubs and other structures had caved in, leaving shapeless masses of blocks. The only thing left intact was a single stone brick staircase that led out of the area into the mountains beyond. The whole area was swarming with squids and squid hybrids.

"We're going to have to be careful going out," Mitch muttered. "We don't want to get caught. We have to get to the stairs going out of here and through the mountains. We should keep to the perimeter and move slowly."

"Who made you the boss?" Seto muttered. "We should stay out of sight while traveling to the stairs. There are lots of places to hide, what with all the wreckage. The chance of us getting caught would decrease dramatically."

"It would be faster to go my way," Mitch argued. "We would be out of here and gone in no time at all."

"We would be safer if we hid while going to the stairs," Seto retorted. "True, it's slower, but we wouldn't get captured."

"If _you _hadn't wasted time arguing, we could have been heading through the mountains by now!" Mitch snapped, his voice rising.

"Keep it down!" Seto hissed. "Do you want to get us discovered?"

Mitch didn't reply. He was looking toward the outside, his eyes wide and his face pale. He had drawn his sword, but his hands shook violently. Seto looked, and saw the reason—several of the squid hybrids had spotted them. They were advancing on them, gleaming dark blue swords drawn.

"Let's go!" Mitch shouted, charging into the crowd. Seto followed, drawing his sword. One thought ran through his mind: _gettothestairsgettothestairsgettothestairs_

Adrenaline kicked in. Seto hacked and slashed and kept the squids at bay. Time seemed to disappear. All that was left was himself, the squids, and the stairs.

Even though Seto had been fighting for what felt like ages, he was barely making any ground. And the fighting was wearing him out. His muscles burned from exertion. It didn't help that all the water was making him dizzy from magic loss.

All that was drowned out by a stabbing pain in his thigh. He stumbled and fell in the water, barely keeping his head above the surface. He looked down. The squid hybrid that had stabbed him yanked its sword out of Seto's leg. Blood gushed from the wound and colored the water crimson. He tried to get up, but was hit by a wave of fatigue. His leg gave out, and he dropped back into the water.

Seto lifted his eyes upward. The hybrid raised its sword again, this time aiming for his chest.

This was it. He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it. He closed his eyes and waited for the final blow.

It never came. Seto cautiously opened one eye. The hybrid was floating in the water next to him, bleeding from a wound in its stomach. Mitch stood over it, wiping blue blood from his sword.

"What the hell are you waiting for, a red carpet?" Mitch shouted. "Get up!"

Seto stood shakily, stumbling slightly. He lifted his sword again.

"Don't exert yourself," Mitch said. "You're hurt. I'll take it from here."

Mitch fought his way through the throng with ease, a slightly bewildered Seto limping along behind. They reached the stone brick stairs that wound up into the sky and began scrambling up.

Seto looked over his shoulder. The squids had clustered at the bottom of the stairs, but none had dared follow them.

"Keep going!" Mitch called. "Don't look back! There'll be time to stop once we get out of here!"

Ebbing adrenaline fueled Seto in their harried trek through the mountains. Only when they were a long distance from the server did they stop to rest.

Mitch sat down on the side of the path, panting heavily. Seto propped his injured leg up on a rock. He tore a piece of fabric from his cloak to bandage the wound, which had stopped bleeding.

"That's going to get infected," Mitch commented.

"No, really?" Seto retorted, trying to keep the quaver out of his voice.

"Once we get to Spawn City, hopefully they'll be able to help with that," Mitch said.

They sat in silence for a moment until Seto spoke up:

"Thanks for saving my life."

Mitch laughed drily. "I figured I owed you one for saving me."

"But still, thanks."

Mitch stood, Seto doing the same. He yelped as pain shot down his injured leg.

"We'd best be going," Mitch said. "It gets cold up here at night. Once we get out of the mountains and on the main highway to Spawn City, we should be fine. Unless they've flooded it, which they probably haven't."

"Can we go slowly?" Seto asked. "My leg is killing me."

"Sure, but we have to move reasonably quickly if we want to make it out of the mountains by nightfall," Mitch said, already starting down the stone brick path. "You coming?"

Seto nodded, limping as fast as he could after Mitch.

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><p><strong>Constructive criticism is highly appreciated for this chapter in particular, because it's one of my first times writing a fight scene. Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	6. VI

**Welcome to chapter 6 of Ripples. This is a week early to get my updating schedule back in order. The usual schedule will resume after this week. This is kind of short because 1) it's more of a "setting things up and forwarding plot" chapter and 2) I was also working on another project. Expect to see that next Friday.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed-it is greatly appreciated!**

**I don't own any of the YouTubers in this chapter, nor do I own _Minecraft_.**

* * *

><p>Spawn City was a massive, bustling metropolis. It lay in a basin that was surrounded by hills and forests.<p>

It was the center of Minecraftia's government, and anybody who was anybody lived there. The squids had attacked and seized it shortly after dispatching the Sky Army, thus rendering them in control of Minecraftia.

The squid invasion had flooded most of Spawn City. The surrounding hills, however, had been left untouched. It was on these hills that Seto and Mitch were hiding while they looked for a way in.

"I can't believe you dragged us all the way up here," Seto grumbled. He was sitting cross-legged on the grass. The gash in his leg had gotten infected, and the angry red wound pulsated with pain.

"We can't just waltz into Spawn City!" Mitch said impatiently from where he sat next to Seto. "You saw what it's like down there. We wouldn't last five minutes before getting captured or..."

"What then?" Seto asked. "We can't stay up here forever, you know. Should we look around for someplace to camp out and figure out a way in?"

"I saw a cave back in the trees," Mitch said, pointing in the direction of said trees. "We could go down there for a while."

Seto stood and was immediately overwhelmed by a feeling of dizziness. Mitch seemed unaffected, so he assumed it was the water's effect on his magic. They retreated into the trees.

"Here it is," Mitch said. Dappled sunlight revealed that the cave entrance gradually sloped down into blackness.

They slowly made their way into the depths of the cave, which continued meandering downward. The sunlight disappeared quickly, and they were left in pitch blackness.

"Seto, can you give us some light?" Mitch asked.

"I'll try." Seto concentrated, and a small violet flame ignited in his palm. It cast a purple light that illuminated everything within a four-block radius. "It's a bit dim, but it'll have to do."

They continued downward. Mild fatigue paired with the throbbing in Seto's leg slowed him down considerably. Mitch made sure to keep pace with him.

Mitch stopped suddenly. Seto turned and saw that he had frozen in his tracks, eyes wide and a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I...I could have sworn I heard something," Mitch said. "Listen!"

Seto listened. He heard a flurry of movement somewhere behind them. He whirled around and drew his sword.

"You heard it?" Mitch asked. Seto nodded.

"Someone or something is down here nearby. What's the plan?"

Mitch opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the clicking of claws on stone.

"There it is again!" he exclaimed, voice rising in pitch.

"We know you're there!" Seto called, trying to sound braver than he felt.

The mystery person placed down a torch, revealing his very furry, very familiar face.

The person wasn't a person at all.

He was a bacca.

Mitch's eyes lit up. Then, for the first time since the invasion, he smiled—really smiled.

"Jerome! You're okay!" he exclaimed joyfully.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" Jerome said.

"Me neither, biggums," Mitch replied. "We thought you didn't make it."

"We? Who's—" Jerome began, but stopped himself when he saw Seto lingering by the cave wall. "Oh. Hey, Seto. Didn't see you there."

"It's fine," Seto said. "I'll just leave you guys to your reunion."

"I wish there was time to catch up, but we have to get to the surface," Mitch said apologetically. "We're going to Spawn City."

"Spawn City?" Jerome repeated. "The whole place is swarming with squids! Trust me, I know. Not only that, both of you have quite the impressive bounties on your heads. Why would you want to go up there?"

"We heard about a group that was trying to find Adam and overthrow the squids," Mitch explained "We're trying to find them."

"I haven't heard of any kind of group like that," Jerome said quizzically. "But if you find them, I'll go with you. I know a way up into the city, and I can take you there. Follow me."

He started walking deeper into the cave at a brisk pace.

"Wait! Seto hurt his leg. Can you slow down a little?"

"I can keep up," Seto protested. "It's fine. I don't want to slow you down."

"No, no, it's okay," Jerome said. "It's not like we're in a hurry or anything."

The trio made their way downward, Jerome placing a torch every once in a while. Jerome and Mitch walked side by side, talking and laughing, while Seto trailed them.

He knew that they were best friends, and had been since childhood. And he hadn't been really close to either of them since the previous August. But seeing Mitch look so relaxed, so _happy _with Jerome made him feel a strange sense of loneliness.

They soon arrived at a dead end.

"Hold on," Jerome said. He walked forward and stepped on a pair of stone pressure plates that Seto hadn't noticed. A set of piston doors hissed open, revealing a well-lit area. The usual stone floor of the cave had been replaced by polished granite. There were six different doors, all of which were closed.

"Back here's my place," he said. "Before, there were all these mobs getting in, so I built the wall. Every now and again, something finds the doors by accident, but it's not as big a problem as it was before."

"When did you have time to build all this? And why down here? I thought baccas lived in trees," Mitch asked.

"We do! It's just that I don't want to be found, and the forests would be the first place someone would look for me," Jerome explains. "I like being alive, which is why _I don't go up into Spawn City_."

"Can you just take us up to the surface?" Seto asked impatiently.

"Yes, yes, of course," Jerome said. He opened the sixth door. Behind it was a tunnel that stretched farther than Seto could see.

They walked through the tunnel. Jerome led the way, Mitch walked right behind him, and Seto brought up the rear. After what felt like several hours of walking, they made a left and came across the remains of a stone brick wall.

"Back here's the old Spawn City sewer," Jerome said. "It's no longer in use, but we can still get up to the surface through it."

He crawled through the wreckage, Mitch and Seto cautiously following. They emerged in a dimly-lit tunnel that extended into blackness in both directions. Jerome directed them to a ladder.

"The city is just up here," he said. Mitch and Seto climbed the ladder, eventually meeting a trapdoor.

"Whenever you're ready," Mitch said.

Seto took a deep breath, and opened the trapdoor.

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><p><strong>Please remember to leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	7. VII

**Welcome to chapter 7 of Ripples, which I'm actually pretty proud of. Before I say anything else, I have some news about updates. Basically, I will no longer be using an updating schedule, and chapters will be released whenever they are ready. For more information, please visit my profile.**

**Huge thanks to Candyphone for reviewing the last chapter and to WinterSpark for favoriting and following. Your support is greatly appreciated!**

**This chapter is dedicated to CrystalFeather0900, assuming she is still part of my viewership, because (spoilers) one of the characters that she wanted to see in the story will be appearing in this chapter.**

**I don't own any of the YouTubers in this chapter, nor do I own _Minecraft_.**

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><p>Seto took a deep breath and opened the trapdoor, bracing himself for the impact of the water above.<p>

It never came. Though he could see the water, it remained completely stationary.

Mitch voiced his thoughts:

"Shouldn't the water being flowing down on top of us?"

Seto shrugged. And then the realization hit him.

"Water magic," he said, internally cursing his own stupidity. "It was so obvious! How did I not realize? They have a magic user. And a really powerful one at that, if he flooded Minecraftia."

"But you said—" Mitch began.

"I _know_ what I said!" Seto interrupted, louder than he meant to. "I see now that I was wrong."

"Either way, let's go," Mitch said.

Seto climbed up into the water. He broke the surface a moment later, gasping for air and wanting nothing more than to lie down and sleep.

He sat down in the water. It never crossed his mind that it might hurt his magic. He just wanted to rest.

"Seto, get up," Mitch said harshly.

"Five minutes," Seto protested, getting groggier by the second. "I'm so tired..."

"Seto, what about your magic? I'm not an expert, but something tells me that sitting in the water isn't good for you," Mitch said.

Right. His magic.

He stood, once again feeling dizzy. He was suddenly freezing, and he shuddered from the cold.

"Are you okay?" Mitch asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. He pulled it away quickly. "You're burning up! You're obviously sick. Maybe you should stay with Jerome."

"No, I'm fine!" Seto felt a rush of annoyance. Who was Mitch to tell him what he could and couldn't do?

"If you really want to go..." Mitch muttered.

Seto looked around at their surroundings. They had emerged on a deserted street, with broken windows and boarded-up storefronts.

"Follow me," Seto said. "We have to go to the center of the city. There might be something there."

"But all that's in the center is the park, the government buildings, and the library," Mitch said. "No rebel in their right mind would be in Spawn City."

"It's still worth a shot," Seto countered. "Would you prefer we spent hours and hours combing all of Spawn City looking for them?"

Mitch sighed. "You're right."

They splashed through the drowned streets, which were devoid of people. When they arrived, the reason for this unusual absence became clear.

What appeared to be a sizable amount of the population was crammed into the park and the surrounding street. People craned their necks and stood on tiptoe to see something that Seto couldn't.

At five feet and seven inches, he had trouble seeing over the crowd. But Mitch was easily over six feet tall. For him, the people weren't a problem.

"What's happening?" Seto asked. "Can you see?"

"Yes," Mitch replied. "There's a lot of people. A lot of hybrids, too."

"But what's the big spectacle?"

"Hold on, I'm trying to see," Mitch said. "We're pretty far away. The main event is in the park."

"Citizens of Minecraftia!" a deep male voice boomed somewhere behind them. Seto jumped and whirled around, stifling a yelp. But there was no one there. A hush fell over the crowd.

"We are gathered here today to witness the execution of a traitor, a deserter, someone who betrayed Lord Julius Lucius, and by extension, each and every one of you. Bring out the prisoner."

"What's happening now?" Seto asked.

"They have a girl," Mitch said. "Small. Neon green hair. She's wearing all black. She's really thin, but not like a model—more like someone who hasn't eaten in weeks. Not anyone we know."

"The traitor, DefiantGravity337, is guilty of treason, production and distribution of inflammatory materials, and following interrogation, was found to be associated with a dangerous group of malcontents."

Mitch turned to Seto, amber eyes wide. Seto read his face: _maybe that group is who we're looking for!_

"After being tried," the voice continued with a hint of smugness, "DefiantGravity337 was sentenced to execution by hanging. If you have any last words, speak now."

A second voice, high-pitched and female, said:

"What kind of world is it that we live in that a teenager can be executed for making fanart and posting it online? What kind of world is it that when you watch videos on YouTube, it is considered treason? It's hell, pure and simple! When will you all stop waiting for someone else to do the work and put an end to this madness? When will you stand up for yourselves? When will—"

The voice, which sounded close to panic, said quickly, "End it!"

The girl, still shouting, was abruptly cut off. The spectators cheered halfheartedly.

Seto's blood ran cold. He looked at Mitch and saw that he had turned white and was staring, transfixed with horror, at what Seto guessed was the gallows where DefiantGravity337's words and life had been cut short. He leaned on Seto, trying with little success to stifle sobs.

The stoic Mitch that Seto had known since he first arrived at his door disappeared, replaced by a broken, traumatized shell of a warrior. It was an unsettling effect.

In the next moment, Seto was face down in the water, arms pinned behind his back. He choked on the cool liquid. Black spots appeared in his vision and his head began spinning. He could hear voices above him, distorted by the water, but they sounded like they were distant rather than a few feet above him.

"Is this for real? Have we captured two YouTubers?" a voice asked.

"Not just any YouTubers. I think we just captured Setosorcerer and BajanCanadian!" a second voice crowed triumphantly.

"Are you serious?" A pause. "I think you're right! How much do you think we'll get for them?"

"Nothing, if you two idiots don't let them up," a third voice snapped. "Lord Julius didn't ask for corpses!"

Seto was roughly pulled out of the water so that he was kneeling on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mitch in the same position. He tried reaching for his sword, but found that his hands had been cuffed. Three squid hybrids stood over them.

"Get up," one commanded. "We have to get you back. You two," he said to his companions, "go round up some others who are willing to help us escort these two."

"Wait!" a slightly accented female voice, warped and yet familiar, called.

Its owner pushed through the crowd. She was a squid hybrid, taller than Seto, and she wore the uniform of the squid army. Insect-like wings in various shades of blue protruded from her back.

"I can take the prisoners," she said.

"Are you sure?" one of the hybrids asked. "You do know that they are supposed to be extremely dangerous. Can you handle them on your own?"

She laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine!"

"If you say so," one of their captors said irritably.

She stalked over and hauled Seto and Mitch to their feet with a "Come along, you two". Seto winced as her claws dug into his skin.

Once they were out of the vicinity of the crowd, she dragged them quickly down a dim side street, nervously looking over her shoulder.

"What are you—" Seto began.

"Shh!" she hissed urgently. "Do you want to get us caught?"

"What are you doing?" Mitch asked.

"I'm saving you," she replied as she fiddled with the cuffs on his wrists, trying to remove them.

"Why?" Seto asked quizzically.

Mitch's cuffs fell with a splash. The hybrid removed her helmet, exposing her face.

It resembled that of some sort of insect or dragon, with vibrant magenta eyes. Her scales (or maybe an exoskeleton—Seto had never gotten the chance to ask) were indigo and navy blue rather than the ebony and magenta hues that Seto remembered. A pair of fragile-looking antennae perched on her head, while horns were in the place where her ears would have been.

"Remember me?" Deceptibonk asked.

"Bonks," a bewildered Seto stated. "You're okay. I...I thought you were dead!"

"I'm not dead," she said, removing Seto's handcuffs, "but I'm not exactly okay."

Seto dropped his gaze, suddenly overwhelmed by guilt. If he had been smart enough, if he had thought quickly enough, he could have saved Bonks and everyone else who had been corrupted. But he hadn't, and now they were doomed to servitude for the enemy.

"I'm sorry," Seto said feebly, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Bonks reassured him, returning his embrace. "You know there's no cure for the Corruption. You know you tried."

"I failed," Seto said shakily. "Up until then, I never lost a patient. Now families and friendships are completely shattered, and it's all my fault."

He leaned into Bonks' shoulder and started to cry.

"No, it's not, Seto. Don't talk like that! You didn't Corrupt them. The squids did. Stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault!" Bonks said, holding him close.

"I...I know..." Seto said through sobs. He took a step back and wiped the tears from his face.

"Why did you come here?" Bonks asked. "Why didn't you just stay where you were safe?"

"It's a long story," Seto said. He proceeded to recount everything that had happened between his reunion with Mitch and that moment. Bonks listened patiently, not interrupting once.

When he was finished, she said tentatively, "I might know where the rebels are."

"You do?" Seto asked excitedly.

"Not exactly," she admitted. "I don't know their exact location. But Gravity—the girl who was executed?—was captured on the outskirts of the city, on the west side. I would start there."

"Really?" Seto asked. "Do the squids know?"

Her eyes glinted with mischief, and for a moment, Seto caught a glimpse of the old Bonks, rather than this pale imitation.

"Don't tell anyone, but I never told them," she whispered. "They never asked."

"I won't," Seto said.

"I should go," Bonks said. "I'll be missed. And Julius—"

"Who?" Seto interjected.

"Julius Lucius. He's the ruler of the squids. Not nice. You wouldn't want to cross him," she explained. "But anyway, Julius won't be happy if I come back without you two. I'll tell him you overpowered me and got away. But still, this won't be pretty."

"If it's that bad, why would you let us go?" Seto asked, feeling guilty again.

"Aren't you supposed to help the people you care about?" Bonks asked. "Besides, even if this doesn't end well, I'll know that I was able to save you."

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. And then she was gone.

"What just happened?" Mitch asked.

Seto had forgotten about Mitch. He flushed red and averted his eyes.

"Bonks freed us. She also said that we should look on the west side of the city," Seto said. He didn't mention what Bonks had said to him. Mitch had probably heard, and even if he hadn't, that wasn't something Seto would share.

"First, let's go back underground. Jerome is probably worried about us," Mitch said.

* * *

><p>"What exactly happened up there? You two look like you've seen a ghost," Jerome exclaimed when Seto and Mitch returned.<p>

"Worse," Seto breathed. "We went to the center city, witnessed the execution of one of our fans, almost got captured, got freed by Bonks, and to make a long story short, we have to go to the west side."

"I can take you there, but it sounds like it's pretty dangerous up on the surface!" Jerome said. "Why would you tempt fate? It's safer down here."

"You can't hide forever!" Mitch retaliated. "It's like Bonks said: aren't you supposed to help the people you care about? Even if we don't know the DefiantGravitys and all our other fans, we still care about them. We have to stop waiting for a hero to come along and help ourselves!"

Jerome was speechless. Finally, he said, "follow me," and they disappeared into the darkness.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	8. VIII

**Okay. I know it's been a while, and I apologize for that. I had schoolwork, a choral concert, and writer's block on top of that. But I'm back now, and hopefully updates will be more regular.**

**I did write a one-shot, _Us_, in case you missed it. If you're interested, please stop by to read it. You can find it on my profile.**

**Huge thanks to Candyphone and CrystalFeather0900 for reviewing, and to FallStarryNight and NegativeZer0Gravity for favoriting and following. Your support is greatly appreciated!**

**I do not own _Minecraft _or any of the YouTubers in this chapter.**

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><p>The mood among the trio had grown somber as they made their way to the outer edges of Spawn City.<p>

Anyone observing them wouldn't have detected anything amiss. Mitch and Jerome still chatted about anything and everything, Seto occasionally chiming in. But they laughed less. Their tones were more subdued. The previous day's events had changed all of them, but Mitch had gotten the worst of it. Seto could see something in his eyes, hear a new hollowness in his voice.

Bonk's words still rang in Seto's mind: _aren't you supposed to help the people you care about?_

That moment had sealed the deal for him: he was going to help the people he cared about, no matter what. That meant all his friends who he had lost, either to death or the Corruption or a worse fate. That meant his fans, whether they were living in hiding or had already been caught and executed. That meant all of his few friends who were still alive.

"Seto, are you okay?" one of his few living friends asked. Jerome.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said dismissively. "Just thinking is all. Are we almost there?"

"It's only a few minutes longer. Why? Is your leg bothering you?" Mitch asked, but his tone was sympathetic rather than cutting.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad," Seto replied. How bad it was he didn't know, not having the courage to look. His hips, knees, and ankles, as well as the wounded area, hurt a lot. Despite it being late summer, he was freezing, and had pulled his cloak around himself in a futile attempt to preserve body heat.

They soon arrived at another ladder. "We're here," Jerome announced.

They climbed up into the street. This time, Seto was more vigilant, and despite the fatigue that washed over him with the water, he resisted the urge to stop moving.

The outskirts of Spawn City had never been upscale, but now they seemed to be falling apart at the seams. Seto could already see the effects of erosion on the brick and stone buildings. Here and there, there were small wooden houses specked with mold. The streets were nearly devoid of people, and the few that were there didn't give them a second glance.

"What happened here?" Jerome asked breathlessly. "It wasn't this bad when I went into hiding."

"How could anyone live like this?" Mitch agreed.

"I used to live around here, before my YouTube channel got...as big as it was," Seto said. He wasn't comfortable with using the term "big" for his YouTube channel. "But it wasn't flooded, though."

"Obviously not," Mitch snorted. "Not to be rude or anything, but you wouldn't last a day if the city were like this when you were here."

"I know..." Seto replied, his voice trailing off.

They splashed through the streets quite noisily, but they may as well have been ghosts for all the attention they got. Empty-eyed people drifted past with no sense of direction, like autumn leaves. There were no squids around, and Seto could see why. The people here had already given up, and it would be a waste to send resources here to oversee a population of broken dolls.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Jerome asked. "Everyone looks...dead."

"Bonks _said_ they were out here," Seto replied.

"If you say so," Mitch said skeptically.

Several hours of searching dragged on slowly. Their pace slowed to a crawl—Seto's leg was hurting again, and Mitch and Jerome were getting tired—and everyone's mood had turned sour.

"We've been looking for hours!" Mitch snarled at Seto. "Maybe Bonks was wrong, Seto! Did you ever think of that?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Seto snapped. Barely giving Mitch time to respond, he said, "That's what I thought. This is all we have to go on."

"That doesn't change the fact that we've been walking in circles for hours!" Mitch retorted. "Face it, Seto. They're not here."

"Just a few more minutes," Seto protested. "They've got to be out here somewhere."

"But then you'll complain that your leg hurts after five seconds!" Mitch replied.

"I have never once—"

"Shut up, both of you!" Jerome interjected. They fell silent. "You used to get along so well. Now it's just bicker, bicker, bicker all the time with you!"

Seto stared at the ground. Mitch spoke after a moment:

"He's right. We need to stop."

Seto nodded wordlessly.

"We'll go back underground once night falls," Jerome said. "We'll try again tomorrow if we can't find them today."

Seto glanced nervously at the sun, which was creeping toward the horizon.

Barely five minutes had passed before something piqued Mitch's interest. Seto and Jerome turned to see what had drawn his eye.

A brunette had passed them, moving quickly. Two white bows sat on either side of her head.

"Is that who I think it is?" Jerome asked.

"Only one way to find out," Mitch said. He whirled around and ran after her, Seto and Jerome following behind. He caught up and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, miss?"

The girl jumped as if she had been shocked. She turned and glared at Mitch with startlingly blue eyes, which widened with recognition.

"Mitch?" she breathed.

"Ashley," Mitch greeted her. "It's been a while."

"I wasn't expecting to see you anytime soon," she said, blushing furiously. "I thought you were dead, so when the message from Ian arrived saying that you were alive...well, suffice it to say I didn't calm down for days. I'm so glad you're okay!"

It was then that she noticed Jerome and Seto lingering awkwardly a few feet behind him.

"Jerome and Seto are here, too?"

"Yes, and Seto's hurt. He got stabbed in the thigh a few days ago and the wound got infected. We're not sure how bad it is, but his entire leg hurts, he's been running a fever, and—"

"Hold on," Ashely interrupted. "Save it for Ant. He's the medic. In the meantime, we should get you back to our base. You can sleep, we'll get you some food, and Tyler can patch Seto up."

She started walking away quickly. They followed her through a twisting maze of city streets, one that backtracked and circled around many times. Ashley explained that it was to throw off anyone who might be following them.

After what felt like hours of walking (when in reality the sun hadn't set), they arrived at an abandoned, falling-apart three-story brick building.

"This used to be an apartment building. It was going to be destroyed, but then things happened and it's been completely neglected," Ashley said. "We're using it now."

She opened the wooden door, inviting them inside. They slipped inside. Ashley brought up the rear of their procession and closed the door behind them.

They had stepped into what had probably been the lobby of the building. Books sat in large stacks in the corners. One wall was papered with maps—some of Minecraftia and some of Spawn City. Wool and clay blocks formed what appeared to be seating areas throughout the room.

"This is our place," Ashley said. "I'll find Tyler and he'll help you get settled. We don't have much food. There's been a famine. All the water has been drowning crops."

"That's okay," Seto said. The thought of food made him feel nauseous.

"Follow me, Seto," Ashley said. "I'll bring you up to the infirmary."

Seto, limping slightly, followed her up a flight of stairs. She moved a more quickly than he would have liked, and he had trouble keeping up.

The infirmary was the first door to the left in the second-floor hallway. Ashley went in first, saying, "Ant, Seto's here. He hurt his leg and the wound is infected."

"Can you send him in?" Ant asked from the other side.

Ashley opened the door for Seto. He went in, still limping. The infirmary was small and sparse, with white clay walls. A shelf of potions stood against the back wall.

"Ashley told me your leg was infected," Ant stated, "but of course you already knew that. How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Seto admitted. "My leg hurts, so I have trouble keeping up with the others. I've been really cold all the time, but Mitch tells me I'm running a fever. Whenever I'm sitting and I stand up, I feel dizzy, and it's not because of the water and my magic."

"It's good we caught this when we did," Ant said. "It's blood poisoning. If left untreated, it could be fatal. Fortunately, we can treat it, though it will take a few weeks to do so."

Two weeks passed. The gash in Seto's leg and the infection had both healed, leaving only a pale scar. Ant, Ashley, and Tyler had come to the conclusion that since the squids knew that two wanted fugitives were within the city limits, they would be more vigilant about searching for members of the Netherian Resistance.

"Well, _sorry_," Seto muttered waspishly. He had been bedridden for the two weeks his infection was being treated, and with nowhere to go and nothing to do with his time, was in a bad mood.

"No matter who caused it, we have to get out of the city before we get captured," Ant said.

"Why?" Tyler asked. "We've been here for two weeks following Seto and Mitch almost getting captured. Nothing's happened yet."

"Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't," Ashley pointed out. "If we leave, our chances of being found out are reduced to close to none."

"But what about everyone else?" Mitch asked. "We can't all leave together without drawing attention."

"Only the six of us are leaving," Ant explained. "We will be leaving some of the others in charge. Everything will be fine."

"Where _are _we going?" Seto asked. "And when?"

"We will be going back to Netheria and then we will decide where to go from there," Ashley said. "We leave tomorrow night."

* * *

><p><strong>This is a setting-stuff-up chapter. Spoiler: things are about to get crazy.<strong>

**Thanks so much for over 1,000 views! In celebration of that, here are a few acknowledgements:**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed: Guest, ItsMyIceCream428, Candyphone, RadRadha04, clalexander, ThisWorldWeHate, UnForgottenEcho, Chocolate, HeroSeekerFrost, and Nightmare Flame. **

**Thanks to everyone who favorited and/or followed: Avantavia27, Candyphone, CrystalFeather0900, FallStarryNight, HeroSeekerFrost, MistWrites, NegativeZer0Gravity, Nightmare Flame, RedDragonCrafter, ShiningOpal, Starchild49, ThisWorldWeHate, UnForgottenEcho, WinterSpark, clalexander, seanmoran3557 (your full name keeps getting removed), and silversprinklez10.**

**Special thanks to Candyphone for reviewing every chapter.**

**Thanks to everyone who has read this story, regardless of whether or not they reviewed, favorited, or followed. Your support is greatly appreciated. I love all of you and you're all amazing.**

**Remember to please leave a review; it shows that you care!**


	9. IX

**Welcome to chapter 9 of Ripples, and let me tell you, the last few weeks have been insane on my end. There were a lot of tests in school, I have to learn new choir repertoire for Christmas, I started reading Homestuck, and I had writer's block (yes, again). Add in the world's worst bronchitis, and you have a recipe for getting nothing done. But here we all are, so on to acknowledgements.**

**Thanks so much to CrystalFeather0900, Candyphone, TheAmazingQwerty, and Guest for reviewing, otakufangirl5925 for following, and to TheAmazingQwerty and Shattered1102 for favoriting and following.**

**I don't own Minecraft or any of the YouTubers in this chapter.**

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><p>The map room on the ground floor of the Netherian Resistance's Spawn City base buzzed with activity. A sizable amount of the Resistance's supplies were spread across the already-cluttered floor. Ant and Ashley were splitting them into two piles: one of things to bring, and one of things to leave behind. This had sparked a heated discussion among the others.<p>

Mitch was explaining in a long-winded, loud tangent whyno one should be entrusted with all of their potions, even though no one was listening. Jerome was arguing with Ant over how much food they should bring. Tyler sorted through the reject pile, berating Ashley for, in his opinion, her poor choice of things to leave behind. Seto lingered by the wall, watching the minor quarrels unfold.

"Seto, what do you think?" Jerome suddenly asked.

Seto started. He hadn't been paying attention. "Me? Leave me out of this, please."

Jerome returned to his debate. Soon enough, everything was sorted, their bags were packed, and the setting sun cast its orange glow on the streets. Goodbyes were exchanged, and they began their journey.

As the moon rose over the city, they drew their swords (or, in Jerome's case, axe). The streets were devoid of any sort of life.

"How are we getting out of here?" Ant asked. "All the major roads in and out of the city are guarded."

"Jerome knows another way out. It's through the old sewer system. They don't use it anymore, but Jerome dug a tunnel into it, and that leads to a cave system, and the exit to that is in the hills just outside the city limits," Mitch explained.

"How do you know we won't get lost?" Tyler inquired suspiciously. "We can't get shit done if we're trapped in the ground!"

"I know where I'm going," Jerome reassured him. "I've been living down there since the attack on Spawn City. Just follow me and you'll be fine."

Jerome led them to the repurposed sewer tunnel. It was completely dry.

"Water-based magic. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think it involves controlling water and putting it where you want," Seto said before anyone asked.

"Why is the sewer dry? Couldn't the water magic user flood it as well?" Mitch asked curiously.

"I don't know," Seto snapped, impatient. "I have fire-based magic. I'm not good at this!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jerome lean over and whisper something to Mitch. Mitch nodded with a brief glare in Seto's direction. He got the message.

"Look," he sighed. "I'm sorry for being rude. Just please don't talk bad about me when I'm right next to you. I have eyes. I can tell."

"Fine, fine. Sorry," Mitch muttered.

They continued out of the sewer and into the cave with Jerome in the lead. Conversation was kept to a minimum, and everyone remained on guard.

They emerged from the cave into the pale moonlight, fractured by the leaves of the trees. They were back in the forest on the hill.

The dark shadows of the trees loomed, rendering it very difficult, though not impossible, to see. Moonlight filled the gaps between the shadows, bleaching everything it touched in silver hues.

"It's so...quiet," Ashley breathed. "Why didn't we come up here to begin with?"

"I think someone would have noticed if stuff was happening up here," Ant said. "We have a perfect view of the city, and they have a perfect view of us."

"Speaking of which, why isn't anyone up here? You'd think these hills would have squid hybrids or something looking after them..." Seto mused.

The last thing he heard before the forest erupted into chaos was the whistle of an arrow past his ear.

The squid hybrid who had fired the arrow stepped neatly out of the shadows, followed by a number of others like it. Seto quickly counted. There were sixteen of them.

"They were expecting us!" he exclaimed.

The hybrids lunged into the group. The six were forced apart.

Mitch and Jerome found each other quickly. They seemed to move as a unit. Ant, Ashley, and Tyler fought alone. Seto skittered to the edge of the battlefield, firing small spells into the fray.

The hybrids seemed to ignore him, focusing on the others. Seto let his guard down just long enough for one to pounce, sending him sprawling in the cool grass.

He began to get to his feet, only for a torrent of cold water to pour down onto him. A bucket hit the earth with a 'clunk' a few feet away.

He was forced to his knees. His vision spun, dark spots appearing. He was suddenly exhausted. He wanted to just rest for a little while...it wouldn't be long...only a minute...then he could get back to the battle.

_No! That's the water talking. Snap out of it! _he scolded himself.

He was suddenly hauled to his feet. A hybrid used one arm to hold him in place, and the other to hold a sword to his throat.

"Drop your weapons," it commanded the rest of the escaping fugitives. "Now, or the sorcerer dies."

"Don't do it!" Seto cried. "It's not worth it! You can manage without me."

The others exchanged looks. Then, one by one, they let their blades fall.

Seto dropped his head, closing his eyes in defeat. The water dripped from his hair onto the ground. They had lost. And all of it was his fault. Again.

His captor roughly twisted his arms behind his back. He let out a yelp. He felt the pinch of handcuffs around his wrists.

"Enchanted," the hybrid explained. "We came prepared this time."

As if on cue, he became overwhelmed by a thick blanket of fatigue. No, that wasn't the right word to describe this sensation. It felt like...felt like...

The word vanished into the figurative fog clouding his brain. His eyelids drooped as if weighed down by lead. The adrenaline that had been fueling him throughout the entire battle ebbed.

Somewhere in the fog, he heard voices buzzing.

"What's wrong with him?" That was Jerome. Or at least, he thought it was. It was getting hard to tell who said what.

"I don't know, but he needs help. What should we do?" Ant, maybe?

"It's the water, I think!" Mitch? Or Tyler? Everyone sounded the same. "Can we get him dried off?"

A pause.

"You _have _to do something! He needs help! He needs..."

The voices faded into the fog. Dimly, Seto felt himself slowing down, as if settling in for a long sleep.

Sleep. Sleep was good. He was exhausted from all the fighting and the work with the Resistance. He hadn't gotten much rest.

Seto relaxed. Any thoughts he may have had were wiped from his mind. A warm sensation covered him. It was the last thing he felt before drifting into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that just happened.<strong>

**This concludes the first half of Ripples. I have two ideas of what to do next chapter, but I want to know what you guys want to see. I have a poll on my profile. Please vote, or I can't continue the story.**

**Please remember to leave a review; it shows that you care!**


	10. X

**Welcome to chapter 10 of Ripples! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and I'm terribly sorry for taking over 3 weeks to write this. Hopefully the next one will be out by Christmas, if not before.**

**Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll on my profile. We will be skipping to when Seto wakes up.**

**Thanks so much to TheAmazingQwerty, Nightmare Flame, CrystalFeather0900, Omg, Candyphone, and Angle for reviewing, DragonicPhoenix for favoriting, and to Chocolatepie227 and SweetInvictus for favoriting and following.**

**I don't own Minecraft or any of the YouTubers.**

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><p>Seto usually woke up easily, so the sensation of continuing to feel tired after waking up was a foreign one to him.<p>

He was suspended in the limbo between consciousness and sleep. His eyelids felt like they were weighted down with lead. He wasn't sure where he was, only that he was warm and his clothes were slightly damp.

His mind buzzed. He wanted to wake up and figure out what had happened.

_No! _his body protested. _Sleep._

Using every ounce of energy he had, Seto forced his eyes to open. They were trained on a stone brick ceiling, moss creeping across the bricks.

Wait.

Stone brick? Where _was_ he?

He sat up and looked around, wincing at the headache that came with the simple actions.

He was in a small, sparsely furnished stone brick room. He lay in a small, uncomfortable bed pushed against one wall. Three of the walls were bare; the fourth had an iron door set in it. The entire floor was covered with water. Mitch paced up and down the room, his steps punctuated by splashes.

"Mitch, where are we?" Seto asked.

Mitch jumped as if shocked, and turned toward him.

"You're awake!" he said delightedly, though worry was evident in his tone.

Ashley's slightly muffled voice came from behind the opposite wall: "Seto's awake?"

"Yeah. He's talking to me right now."

More voices came from all directions.

"How is he?"

"...so worried when you passed out..."

"...can he talk to us?"

"One at a time, okay?" Mitch shouted.

"You still didn't answer my question," Seto said. "Where are we? What happened?"

"We're in the squids' dungeon, apparently. We got captured and they knocked you out with water and some magic cuffs."

It all came rushing back: their attempted escape, the ambush, and the others exchanging their freedom for Seto's life.

"You could have just left me behind, you know. Why didn't you?" he asked.

"Because you're our friend, and friends don't let friends get brutally murdered by squids," Mitch replied. "And speaking of friends, we have a few here that weren't in the Resistance. They should be right next to you."

Seto pressed his ear to the wall. "Hello?"

"Seto? Is that you? Mitch told us what happened, and we were really worried!"

"T-Ty?" Seto stammered. "I..."

He fell silent. What was he supposed to say?

"It's been a while," he finally muttered feebly.

"I know," Ty said. "We've been so worried about you. We thought you were dead!"

"We? Who's 'we'?" Seto asked.

"Mitch didn't tell you? Adam, Jason, Ryan, and Quentin are here, too. Adam's in here with me, if you want to talk to him."

"I think I will, actually."

"One moment." Seto heard Ty calling, "Adam? Seto wants to talk to you."

A brief pause. Then:

"Hey."

Was that really Adam? He sounded so...hollow. What had the squids done to him?

"Is something wrong?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"I'm locked in a squid dungeon and my execution is any day now. _Of course _something's wrong." He laughed humorlessly.

"Sorry," Seto muttered.

Adam sighed. "It's fine. I just...I think I'll just tell you what happened. It's not a pretty story, but I think you should know what to expect."

Seto listened quietly as Adam told the sordid tale.

"After I tried to get everyone to run, Ty, Jason, Quentin, Ryan, and I were captured. They knocked us out and brought us here. I originally thought they had you guys also, but then you weren't here, so we all assumed the worst...

"Anyway, I got dragged out a little after I woke up to speak with their ruler. And let me tell you, Lord Julius Lucius is...well, _despicable _is too nice for him. He's the son of Derpolollus, who I killed last year, so he was already unhappy with me. He wanted me to surrender officially and give up my amulet so that he could figure out what it does. Even I don't know what it does. I told him no. He didn't like that at all. Since then, he's tried to 'persuade' me pretty frequently, using whatever means possible.

"The thing about Julius is that he doesn't quit and doesn't care who gets hurt, just as long as his victim is still alive. One time, pretty early on, he said to me that I could either give up the amulet and surrender, or suffer the 'consequences', as he put it. I didn't even know what those were. I refused. So he brought out Alesa, my girlfriend. I don't know how he found her, but..."

Adam paused, took a ragged breath, and continued.

"_He killed her, he tortured her to death while I watched! She's dead now, and it's all my fault!"_

The words had come out a tortured scream. Seto could only listen, horrified.

Adam's shaky voice concluded his story.

"After that, I was more determined than ever to stay strong for Alesa's sake. If I surrender, then she will have died in vain. I think I've held up pretty well, but hopefully I won't have to for much longer."

"I..." Seto began, and then trailed off. How was he supposed to respond to _that_?

"I'm so sorry," he said.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. Now, can you tell me what happened to you while I was stuck down here? I'd like something else to think about right now."

"Compared to that, my adventures with Mitch seem like nothing. This whole mess started when Mitch showed up at my door, half dead after a zombie attack. We decided to go hide in the Nether, but then we killed a Ghast, found a town, and got arrested.

"As it turned out, Ian was the mayor of said town and the leader of a rebel movement. He sent us back up to the Overworld and into Spawn City so we could meet up with Ant, Ashley, and Tyler. Along the way, we got attacked by squids, ran into Jerome, almost got captured, and got saved by Bonks."

"Bonks is alive?" Adam asked curiously.

"Yes, but she got Corrupted. She's stuck working for the squids now."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I knew you were friends. Anyway, continue."

"We finally met up with the others. After I spent two weeks recovering from a leg injury I got, we all tried to leave, got captured, and...well, here we are. What happened while I was out?"

"I don't know. Ask Mitch or someone," Adam replied.

"Mitch, what happened while I was out?"

"After you passed out, we all basically lost it a little. We thought you had died or something. It wasn't until Ashley took your pulse and said you were alive that we calmed down. The squid hybrids brought us here through an underground tunnel. Jerome and I carried you, and then we got here. Then—"

His sentence was cut off by splashes outside the cells and on the other side of the wall. Seto figured that Adam had retreated to the corner of his cell, judging by the noise.

"Calm down, Sky Does Minecraft," an unfamiliar voice said chidingly. "We're not here for you this time."

"What a relief," came Adam's voice, which sounded genuinely relieved.

"Have you learned nothing?" a second voice snapped. "You should know by now where talking back gets you."

"Where? Solitary? _You_ should know by now that it doesn't even faze me anymore."

"Maybe I should put a word in for harsher penalties for disorderly conduct for you," the second voice said.

"That's never going to happen, and you know it," Adam said conversationally, almost playfully. Like he was teasing a friend.

Seto curiously listened to the exchange. How could he switch so quickly between nervousness and casual banter?

"Anyway," the first voice stated, authority evident in his tone, "we were sent for Setosorcerer. Where is he?"

Seto felt like a weight had settled on his chest. He could feel his breathing quicken. Adam's words echoed in his mind.

And yet, for reasons he couldn't explain, he shakily got to his feet and called out in a trembling voice, "I'm here."

The door to his cell opened and a squid hybrid hauled him out. A black blindfold went over his eyes.

"W-where are we going?" Seto stammered.

"We are going upstairs," the hybrid said. "Lord Julius Lucius would like to have a word with you."

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><p><strong>Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>


	11. XI

**Welcome to chapter 11 of Ripples, and happy holidays! I actually managed to finish this chapter on time, even with all the tests and concerts and whatnot.**

**THIS CHAPTER GOES INTO TC DRAMA YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**

**I have a poll on my profile, if you're interested. It's related to a future project I may or may not make.**

**Thanks so much to UnForgottenEcho, TheAmazingQwerty, Guest, and gamingwaffle for reviewing, Nehamee and FrostBitten Snowdrift for favoriting, and gamingwaffle for favoriting and following. Your support is greatly appreciated!**

**I don't own Minecraft or any of the YouTubers.**

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><p>Seto's heart pounded in his chest. His knees felt like water, and he could barely walk. The two hybrids hauled him around a corner, up a flight of stairs, and through various hallways before stopping.<p>

The blindfold fell away, revealing his new surroundings. Seto could only stare.

Light poured in through massive, arched windows. Four prismarine pillars supported the ceiling, which was also built from prismarine. Sea lanterns hovered in midair. A pair of tall, dark oak doors stood in front of him. Naturally, the entire room was flooded.

"What are you waiting for?" the hybrid on his left hissed. "You have someplace to be, you know."

The hybrid on the right ushered him toward the doors. He knocked six times and called, "Your Majesty? The sorcerer is here."

"Send him in," a masculine, bored-sounding voice replied from the other side. "Alone."

The hybrid opened one of the doors, just providing enough room for Seto to enter. He swallowed, pushed his fear down as far as he could, and slipped inside.

The room he was in was identical to the one he had just left, if not for the dark prismarine throne on the opposite side of the room. And in that throne sat who Seto was certain was Lord Julius Lucius.

From the waist up, he looked like any other squid hybrid, with pale blue skin and meticulously-groomed navy blue hair. But where legs would have been on a squid hybrid, he just had a set of six tentacles.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he called impatiently. "We cannot have a discussion if you are all the way over there!"

"I'm sorry, your Majesty," Seto replied. "It's just..."

"Your fire magic? How inconsiderate of me."

He muttered something under his breath, and the water parted down the middle, creating an aisle for Seto.

He tentatively made his way to the opposite end of the throne room and hastily bowed, keeping his gaze trained on the floor. When he dared to lift his eyes, he saw Julius looking him over with silvery eyes, his lips pulled up in a slight smirk. Seto crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his head, feeling self-conscious for reasons he couldn't explain.

"For a human, you don't look half bad," Julius said. "You have rather delicate features. Like fine china."

Was that a compliment? "Thank you, your Majesty," Seto responded in a soft, quivering voice.

"And you even have good manners! Finally, someone who knows how to show _respect_."

"Respect was very important to my mother," Seto said. "She made sure my manners were impeccable."

"Let's begin there," Julius said conversationally. "Tell me about your mother."

"She was a sorceress, and a powerful one at that. Her magic was fire-based, like mine. She raised me and taught me how to use my magic to an extent."

"To an extent? What do you mean?"

"When...when I was fourteen, the village where we lived was hit by a hurricane. We lived near the ocean in a very remote part of Minecraftia. Leaving would probably have been more dangerous than staying. My mother decided to use her magic to prevent the wind and the waves from destroying everything. She wanted me out of harm's way, so she told me to go to the Nether, and so I went.

"When I came back, everything was just...gone. It was all flooded," Seto continued, shuddering at the memory. "I found my mother in the ruins. Dead."

Seto blinked back tears and bit his lip. He was _not _going to cry in front of Julius.

"My deepest condolences," Julius said softly after a moment, features arranged into an expression of sympathy. "Your mother sounded like a wonderful woman."

"She was," Seto replied.

"I lost my mother also," Julius continued. "Disease took her when I was very young. I was mostly raised by my father."

"Oh, I..." Seto began, and then trailed off. How could he respond?

"Let's continue. Tell me about your friends," Julius said.

"M-my friends?" Seto stammered.

"Yes, your friends!" he snapped impatiently.

"Well," Seto began. "There's not a lot to tell.

"Ty was the first real friend I had. When I was growing up, the other kids in the village thought I was too boring and didn't want to spend time with me. Ty introduced me to Adam, and then I met my other friends later."

"What about Team Crafted?" Julius asked. Seto winced.

"It appears that Team Crafted is a touchy subject for you, Setosorcerer. Why is that?"

Seto sighed. "Long story. I don't want to talk about it."

_Why _did he have to bring _that _up? Seto still remembered it like it was yesterday.

* * *

><p>The eight of them had gathered in Adam's house on a rainy August afternoon, wanting to talk about "concerns". Seto was last to arrive.<p>

"Is there something wrong?" he asked nervously when he entered Adam's sitting room. The others were perched in cream-colored overstuffed chairs with too-rigid posture. No one would look him in the eye.

"Well..." Adam began, fidgeting in his seat, "it's about Team Crafted, and the future, and...well, Mitch can tell you."

"Why me?" Mitch protested.

"It was your idea!" Adam snapped.

"You all agreed to it!"

"You suggested it, you have to tell him!"

Seto felt a gnawing, anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach. His mind started racing, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Can you stop arguing and tell me what is going on?" Seto asked irritably.

Mitch sighed. "Seto, we've been talking. Team Crafted is getting to be huge. As in, we're-getting-calls-from-potential-sponsors huge. Everybody is interested in working with the sponsors. Everybody, that is, except you."

"But wasn't the team created to be a group of friends playing games?" Seto asked, puzzled. "I don't see why we have to _have_ sponsors at all!"

"Seto, situations change," Adam replied. "When we first had the idea of Team Crafted, we didn't think we were going to be as famous as we are now. But things worked out that way, and now we have to make some new decisions."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Adam glared in Mitch's direction.

"Look, Seto, we were talking before you arrived, and..." Mitch began.

"And?"

"We think that if we're going to work with sponsors, you really wouldn't fit. You aren't as well-known as the rest of us, being the only member of the team who hasn't gotten a million subscribers, and also the fact that you don't like attending fan events. The sponsors want Team Crafted, not Team Crafted minus one person."

"And?"

"Your recording style kind of clashes with ours. Team Crafted is supposed to be this funny, crazy group, and you're too serious. Too intense, even."

Seto winced at the words, so familiar from when he was growing up.

"I talked with everyone else about removing you from the team, and, well, everyone but Ty agreed. I'm really sorry about this, but we have to kick you off the team."

Tears pricked the corners of Seto's eyes. His vision blurred, and he clenched his teeth to avoid breaking down completely.

"I can change! I can!" he pleaded. "Really! I can be less serious while recording if you want! I'll go to all the fan conventions I can! Just _let me stay_!"

"I'm sorry, Seto," Mitch said. "What's done is done."

Anger erupted inside of him, white-hot. He felt the familiar tingle of magic begin in his chest.

"So, you're telling me that if you were given the choice between business and friendship, you would choose business," he hissed.

"It wasn't entirely my decision!" Mitch protested. "We can still be friends, right? Seto, wait! Come back!"

He had turned and stormed out of the house into the rain, and kept walking until he got home. He went inside, slamming the door behind him. Finally, he leaned against the wall, sank to the floor, and allowed himself to cry.

* * *

><p>"Setosorcerer!"<p>

Julius's impatient voice brought him back to reality. The hybrid stared at him unwaveringly.

"Sorry," Seto muttered. "I was just...thinking..."

"About what?"

"It doesn't matter. It was a long time ago and—"

"Listen, Setosorcerer," Julius growled. "You can tell me what you were just thinking about, or what happens next will be highly unpleasant. It's your choice."

Seto considered. He thought about what Adam had told him. Finally he relented.

"A little over a year ago, Mitch sparked a vote to remove me from Team Crafted, our group of recording friends, for business reasons. Everyone but Ty agreed, and so they kicked me from the team. They were some of my best friends."

Seto avoided Julius's piercing gaze. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"And yet you seemed to get along so well with Mitch, even after he sacrificed your friendship to make a profit."

"Not at first," Seto admitted. "At first we were always arguing. Then we ran into some squids, and he saved my life. We started being nicer to each other after that, but I don't think things will ever be the same between us."

"I see."

They stood in silence for a moment before Julius spoke once again.

"What happened after?"

"I started spending time with some of my other friends. Ty was one, but there were some others."

"Such as...?"

Seto swallowed.

"Ty. Bodil. Ritz. Nate. Matt. Isaac. Kyle. Brice..."

"Who is Brice?"

"It doesn't matter anymore," Seto responded softly.

"Who is Brice?" Julius repeated.

"He's not important anymore." His voice quavered.

"I will not ask again. _Who is Brice_?"

"Brice...he was..." Seto trailed off, smiling sadly. "We used to be a couple. I loved him more than anyone in the world. We probably would have gotten married if things had turned out differently, but..."

The bittersweet tears stung his eyes as he reflected on everything he hadn't said. How Brice's eyes lit up like all the stars in the sky when he smiled. How their hands seemed to interlock perfectly. The way his bright blonde hair stood up in the back, and how Seto had used to playfully ruffle it.

"What happened to him?"

"He...he's not with us anymore." Seto shuddered as he recalled that last awful night. How he had held the dying Brice in his arms and could only watch helplessly as he faded away.

"He died?"

Seto could only nod. _Do not break down. Do not show weakness._

"And what happened after?" Julius asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Seto snapped. "I know you want something from me. What is it?"

"Now, Setosorcerer, there's no need to overreact. I simply asked a question." Julius's voice was eerily calm, his expression stony.

"_WHAT IS IT?"_

Julius sighed. "I want your magic."

"My magic?" Seto repeated, perplexed. "I have fire-based magic. It wouldn't be of much use."

"We can make arrangements for you," Julius responded, his voice silky-smooth. "There are ways around your...problem."

"But why me?"

"I've heard a lot about you and your magic. Your friends have told me that you are accomplished in magic. With some training, we will be unstoppable."

"And why do you think I would accept your offer? What about my friends?"

"Your so-called friends threw you away without a second thought," Julius purred. "Who's to say it won't happen again? If you accept my offer, you can prevent that entirely. You would be respected, adored, treasured as you should be. No one would hurt you or abandon you again. I would make sure of that."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you can join dear miss Deceptibonk," Julius responded, voice turning from velvet to ice.

"Where is she?" Seto asked. "What did you do to her?"

"I did what had to be done," Julius said evenly. "I'll show you."

* * *

><p>Seto's vision blurred. The throne room reformed around him, but he was off to the side. In front of him, Julius perched on his throne. Bonks stood before the throne, head held high.<p>

_A memory spell_, Seto realized.

"You _are _aware that helping the two fugitives makes you guilty of treason?" the past Julius stated.

"There's no proof that I did," Bonks responded.

"There is reasonable evidence to indicate that you aided in their escape," the past Julius said, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

"What _evidence_?" Bonks asked. "I said I could bring them here. They were not with me when I returned. There is nothing to indicate that I released them."

"There is your past history with the two," Julius said, suddenly on the defensive. "The sorcerer in particular. You used to be attracted to him, correct?"

"H-how did you know about that?"

Seto's mind struggled to process what Bonks had said. She had had a crush on him? On_ him_?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Her rescuing him and Mitch. Her comforting him in the alleyway. And the kiss.

How had he not noticed?

The past Julius continued talking.

"It was obvious, really. You were always talking about him. And does this"—he held up a sheet of sketch paper—"ring a bell?"

Bonks just stared as he threw the paper into the water at her feet.

"That's not important," Julius continued, as if he had never destroyed Bonks' artwork. "What's important is that you committed treason against me, and now you have to endure the consequences of your actions."

"So execute me," Bonks hissed. "Make a big show of it."

"Oh, I can't do that," Julius responded. "The DefiantGravity337 execution proved that. I'll just deal with you right now."

He rose from his throne, a silver trident in hand. Seto could only watch, horrified, as the points broke through Bonks' scales and pierced her heart.

She fell, dead, into the water. Her fuschia blood stained the clear liquid. The memory faded, and Seto was transported back to the present.

* * *

><p>He fell to his knees, dimly aware of an animalistic scream. It took him a moment to realize that it was coming from him.<p>

"Nonononono...it wasn't real...it wasn't real...she's not dead...she can't be dead..." Seto muttered to himself, trying to deny reality. "She's okay...she's not dead...it wasn't my fault...no no no no NO!"

"Such a pity," Julius said, strangely calm.

"She isn't dead!" Seto cried. "She is _not _dead!"

"Have you made a decision?" Julius asked, as if nothing had happened.

"NO!" Seto screamed. "How could you honestly think that I would _ever _work with you after you murdered my boyfriend and one of my closest friends, and tortured my other friends? I'm not heartless, you know. I'm not like _you_!"

Julius stared for a moment before recovering his composure.

"Then you can be executed along with your 'friends'. Now get out of my sight!" he snarled.

Seto turned and fled. He barely registered his return to his cell, and being dumped unceremoniously on the floor. Mitch helped him up and looked him in the eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Seto responded.

His mind raced. _Bonks was dead. Mitch could betray him again. Bonks was dead. They would all die too, and soon. Julius wanted his magic. Bonks was dead. Bonks was dead. Bonks was dead._

"Seto," Mitch repeated gently. "What's wrong?"

"Bonks is dead," Seto breathed.

And he crumpled into Mitch's arms and, at last, cried.

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, happy holidays! Please leave a review; it shows that you care!<strong>

**please don't hurt me Crystalfeather0900**


	12. Important AN

**Hey, everyone.**

**I guess I owe you all an explanation as to why there hasn't been an update in close to four months. I'm very sorry to everyone who was disappointed that this isn't a new chapter.**

**A whole bunch of factors are contributing to the hiatus. They are as follows:**

**1. School has been kind of hard on me this year and I've had to focus a lot on that. I was having trouble with getting all my homework done and keeping everything balanced, and something had to give. Unfortunately, the story was the something. However, I'm currently in the middle of standardized testing. Hopefully, my workload will lighten once that's finished.**

**2. On top of that, choir gets very intense this time of year. I've been devoting a lot of time to practicing my music. Choir will be finishing in about two weeks, so that will be one less thing to worry about.**

**3. The biggest issue contributing to my absence has to do with my writing itself. I've had some writers' block, but on top of that, I've been really insecure about my writing. I know exactly what I want to do in the next chapter and the chapters following it, but I can't write anything without thinking, "what if they don't like it?" It's not fun.**

**That about covers my reasons for being inactive. I'm not trying to fish for compliments, but if you could leave a review saying what you think of the story so far, that would be great.**

**I also have a Tumblr called Kalvin4444-writes. I will be posting writing-related things there.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed so far. It means a lot.**

**Until later, **

**Kalvin4444**


	13. XII

**Hey look a chapter**

**Welcome to chapter 12 of Ripples, and there are many things that need to be clarified.**

**First, I changed my username to breezyVocalist (which I like a lot better than Kalvin4444).**

**Next, I should probably explain where I've been for six months. To make a long story short, I've been very busy with schoolwork and music, and I had some personal issues that I won't go into. Everything is resolved now, and I'll have more time to write now that I'm on summer break.**

**Thanks to TheAmazingQwerty, Nightmare Flame, UnForgottenEcho, Gamingwaffle, echomist66, CrystalFeather0900, Guest, Candyphone, and BlazeRodAtaraxy for reviewing the last chapter, Christinme and Nightmare Flame for favoriting, and AnonymousOnline, BlazeRodAtaraxy, FlygonWriter64, Momolinia32, Naf1a7Ate9, TeamFireGirl, The Great Fuzz, sonicxjones, and weather741 for favoriting and following!**

**Big thanks to UnForgottenEcho, Naf1a7Ate9, shattered1102, Nehamee, eviethekiwi, Chocolatepie277, FlygonWriter64, and CrystalFeather0900 for your support. It really means a lot and it helped me finish this chapter.**

**Huge thanks to Naf1a7Ate9 for your constructive criticism for the first five chapters! Unfortunately, I can't go back and rewrite it all now, but I will keep what you said in mind as I finish this project and for other things I plan on writing.**

**I do not own Minecraft or any of the YouTubers.**

* * *

><p>Seto was drowning in a sea of fuchsia blood. The warm, metallic-tasting liquid filled his mouth every time he tried to breathe. He tried futilely to pull himself to the surface until his arms burned and his lungs felt ready to burst. He was vaguely aware of a wailing voice that he recognized as Bonks'. He cried out for her, only for his call to be lost in the chaos.<p>

His vision was fuzzy from the lack of oxygen, and he was sinking...

He sat bolt upright, trembling. His breath came out in small, shallow gasps of horror.

The same dream, all ten nights he had spent in prison. And all because Bonks was dead. All because of him.

Across the cell, he heard Mitch stirring in the blackness.

"I'm sorry," he said shakily. "Did I wake you?"

"It's not like anyone else wouldn't have if you hadn't," Mitch replied groggily.

It was true. Seto wasn't the only one plagued by nightmares. Invariably, someone would wake up screaming from some dream-produced horror in the middle of the night.

"Who else is awake?" Seto asked, keeping his voice a whisper.

"Just us, I think," Mitch answered at a normal volume.

"I'm up." Adam's voice came from the cell next door. Seto jumped at the sudden noise.

"Adam!" Mitch exclaimed, surprise and an edge of resentment in his voice. "I didn't hear you wake up."

Adam let out a harsh, humorless bark of a laugh. "I never went to sleep. The nightmares...I couldn't take it. If I don't sleep, I don't have to put up with them."

Seto could sense Adam shuddering.

"Wait, is...is anyone else awake?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Adam said. "It's pretty late—or rather, early—too. This has been a good night, relatively speaking."

"How late _is _it?" Mitch asked.

"I'm not sure," Adam replied. "I counted seconds for a while. I think it's around three in the morning right now."

Seconds after he finished speaking, all the lights in the prison snapped on. Seto let out a slight hiss as his eyes were assaulted by blinding light.

"What the hell?" Adam exclaimed. "We never wake up this early!"

Seto could faintly hear the sounds of the others awakening, along with the familiar sounds of the guard approaching.

No. That wasn't right. There was more than one guard.

"Can someone _please_ explain what's going on?" Adam asked.

"Everyone up!" one of them bellowed. "His Majesty wants you out of here by sunrise!"

"Where are we going?" someone asked.

"Where do you think? It's execution day."

Execution day. The words formed a hollow pit of fear in Seto's stomach.

A squid hybrid stepped into Seto's cell and advanced on him. Seto took a hasty step back.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"His Majesty would like to speak to you one last time before your departure," the hybrid replied.

"Tell him I want nothing to do with him," Seto replied, trying his best to maintain a defiant tone under a layer of sleepiness and dread.

"This is not a matter of choice."

Seto remained silent as he was once again hauled up to the throne room. He slipped through the doors, keeping his eyes trained on the flooded ground glimmering with moonlight.

"So." Julius's voice, alert despite the early hour, dripped with disdain.

Seto lifted his head just enough to make eye contact, remaining silent.

"There's no need to be rude," Julius snapped. His voice softened. "I just wanted to see you before you go. I'm sorry I have to execute you; I really am. What a waste of magical talent."

"If you think I'm going to change my mind and let you 'train' me, think again," Seto hissed.

"If _you_ think about it rationally, you'd see that this is the best option for you," Julius replied. "If you accept, you'd become more powerful and skilled in the magical arts than you could ever imagine. And if not...you'd simply die. All that power, gone to waste."

In a trembling voice, Seto replied, "I am thinking about this rationally, and my answer is still no. And if that means I'm going to die, then so be it."

Julius sighed. "Fine."

Seto turned to leave, but was stopped by Julius calling after him: "I just need another minute or so of your time!"

Seto turned. "Yes?"

Eyes closed in concentration, Julius began chanting rapidly: **"Invoco irritum Dormiret super vos, pariet tenebris et reliqua, quae vigilae quinque horas dierum!"**

Seto inhaled and began a counterspell to protect himself from Julius's curse. **"Rigores—"**

Before he could continue, the spell took hold and sent him plummeting into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Seto awoke quickly, mind abuzz with energy. His eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and he took in his surroundings.<p>

He was in a small, windowless room. It was free of any water and mostly empty, except for a glass cylinder that stood in the far corner and a clock next to it. A squid hybrid paced the room, her boots clicking on the metal floor.

She turned and, upon seeing that he was awake, rushed to his side.

"You're awake," she stated simply. Seto nodded.

"Before you go up, I'm just going to ask you a few quick questions," she said. "My name's Galatea, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you," Seto replied cordially, though his voice shook with fear.

"Can you tell me how you feel?" she asked.

Seto wasn't quite sure how to describe how he was feeling, so he said, "If I weren't so scared, I could probably do anything I wanted."

She nodded.

"What's going to happen?" Seto asked.

"It's basically the Survival Games," Galatea explained. "But there's no respawn. All the losers die for good."

"What happens to the winner?" Seto asked nervously.

She shrugged and glanced at the clock, which read 8:30. How long had he been asleep?

"It's time for you to go," she said, gesturing toward the glass cylinder.

Seto got to his feet and made his way to the tube. His knees trembled as he stepped inside.

"Good luck," Galatea said as the cylinder sealed.

Seto closed his eyes and tried unsuccessfully to steady his breathing as he ascended.

The first thing he noticed upon his arrival in the arena was the heat. He opened his eyes and observed his surroundings.

The spawn area was built entirely from Netherrack, Nether brick, quartz, and soul sand. Much of it had been set on fire. Dark smoke drifted up into the clear blue sky, which was visible beyond the dome-shaped barrier that enclosed the arena.

Seto was baffled. Why would the arena be built like _this—_similar to the Nether? It was almost like...

_Almost like the game had been tipped in his favor._

It all made sense. Julius wanted his magic, and Seto had refused to submit. Rather than letting him die and letting all of his magic go to waste, he would ensure he won and take it by force.

Seto recalled something Adam had told him ten days before, after he had woken up in prison: _the thing about Julius is that he doesn't quit and doesn't care who gets hurt, just as long as his victim is still alive._

_Well, he's not going to win_, he thought. _I won't allow it._

As he waited for the game to begin, he tried to formulate escape plans in his mind. He soon came to realize that there was no way out.

_Don't lose hope._ _There has to be another way._

Just moments later, the solution came to him: if he couldn't escape the arena, he would ensure that he lost the game and end his own life.

The gong rang out, signaling the beginning of the Survival Games. Seto turned and sprinted away from the center of the arena. Smoke stung his eyes and burned his lungs as he fled through Netherrack spires.

He caught a glimpse of a chest nestled in a small cranny in the ground. He bent down to open it, finding a stone sword and a pair of leather boots. He took the sword and left the boots behind.

His pace slowed to a walk as he looked for an ideal place to kill himself. He spotted a secluded clearing amidst pillars of quartz and Nether bricks and, after a glance over his shoulder, darted into it.

He sat on the ground and took out his sword. So this was it. This was how he would die.

His hands trembled in fear as he pushed up his sleeves and lowered the blade to the skin of his forearm. He had considered doing this so many times before, so why was he so scared _now?_

He turned his gaze skyward so he wouldn't have to watch. He began to apply pressure to the sword, focusing on the stripes of the barrier overhead.

_Wait._

A new escape plan began to emerge in his mind. He set the sword aside and got to his feet. He paced the clearing, thinking.

Soon, his plan was almost ready. There were just two variables that needed to be accounted for.

He extended his hand and willed a deep purple flame into existence with magic. The action came easily to him.

_Why shouldn't it? _he mused. _If I'm supposed to win, there's no way they wouldn't let me keep my one major advantage._

There was one more thing he had to do. He turned and strode purposefully out of the clearing, toward the edge of the arena.

He spotted a figure wearing a red and black checkered hoodie. "Mitch!" he called.

Mitch turned. His eyes widened and he drew his sword, a glint of malice evident in his eyes.

Seto took a step back. "Mitch, what's wrong?"

"You're just going to kill me now, aren't you? Go ahead. Do your worst," Mitch snapped.

"Mitch, what makes you think I want to kill you?" Seto asked quizzically.

"Isn't it obvious? This arena was practically _made_ for you, Seto. Clearly, the squids want you to live. So go ahead; go for it. But I'm not going down without a fight."

"Mitch—" Seto began.

"_What?_" Mitch interrupted. "I know there's a bargain going on between you and them. Why else would everything be on fire, if not to give you an advantage?"

"Mitch, I would never do anything like that. You have to believe me!" Seto pleaded.

"I didn't want to," Mitch said quietly. "But based on this...maybe Julius was right."

"Right about _what_? What did he tell you?"

Mitch sighed. "Five days ago, he spoke with me about you. He said...he said he offered you a deal: join the squids and have your life be spared, or die with the rest of us. You told him you'd consider it. And then, when the squids took you out this morning...that was when you made your final decision. And obviously, you accepted."

"Mitch, that's not how it happened. Julius did offer me that deal, but I refused. He spoke to me again earlier to try to get me to reconsider, but I said no again," Seto explained. "The arena was probably built this way so that I would win, but I would never have you all die so I could join our enemies."

Mitch nodded, though his eyes betrayed skepticism.

A thought occurred to Seto. "Wait. Could it be possible for anyone outside a Survival Games arena to interfere with a game while it's taking place?"

"Not to my knowledge," Mitch replied.

Seto grinned. "Good. I think I know a way to escape the arena."

"You do?" Mitch's voice was hopeful.

"Maybe," Seto replied. "I was thinking I could destroy the barrier surrounding the arena."

"How? Barriers can't be destroyed," Mitch said.

"Not by any conventional means," Seto corrected him. "But maybe magical...I could use my magic to burn it."

"Will that even work?"

"I think it will. The barrier has to be made of some sort of matter; otherwise we would be able to pass through it. And if it's made of matter, chances are I can burn it. I was going to the edge to try it," Seto answered. "Do you want to come with me?"

He turned around and continued toward the barrier, Mitch following hesitantly.

After several minutes of walking, they reached the edge of the arena. Only a three-block-wide strip of soul sand separated them from the barrier. And just beyond it was real grass.

"Wait here," Seto said. He made his way toward the barrier, his feet sinking into the soul sand. He summoned a purple flame and willed it to leap from his hands to the barrier. It quickly burned a small hole that rapidly grew outward.

He extinguished the fire, and the area of barrier surrounding the hole rushed to fill the gap. Within seconds, the hole had disappeared without a trace. His heart sank.

"What happened?" Mitch asked.

"The hole closed," Seto said. "The barrier behaves like both a solid and a liquid—when there's an empty space in the barrier, the rest of it flows to fill the gap. But at the same time, it's not truly a liquid, because if it were, it would flow into the arena. So basically, I can't burn a hole in the barrier because it fixes itself by filling in holes."

"Do you think the barrier continues into the ground? If it didn't, we could burn the very bottom so it couldn't fix itself," Mitch mused.

Seto paused. He hadn't considered that.

"That's a good idea. I'll try it," he said.

"Really?"

Seto nodded. He flattened himself against the ground, and ignited the barrier again. He let it burn until the flame reached the spot where the dome met the ground. He snuffed out the fire and carefully watched as the barrier rushed to fill in the opening.

It expanded to plug the hole from every edge except for the bottom—where it met the ground. Seto laughed triumphantly.

"Did it work?" Mitch inquired eagerly.

Seto nodded, a broad grin spreading across his face. "It doesn't reform from the ground!"

"So...if you were to burn the bottom of the dome, all the way around, it would burn up and we could escape?"

"Yes, but that's too much work," Seto said. "We'd have to walk all the way around, through the smoke and the heat, and then there's all this soul sand to deal with. I was thinking that I could burn it starting at the top of the dome, and then it would spread and destroy the whole thing. That would be much easier."

Mitch nodded, and they started back toward the center.

The center of the arena was devoid of any life. Mitch turned to Seto. "What now?"

"I think a minute of sustained fire should be enough to get rid of the barrier completely. The real question is whether or not I actually _can_ sustain a fire for that long," Seto said.

"Is this safe?" Mitch asked worriedly. "I don't want you to get yourself killed over this."

Seto hesitated. He remembered Brice and everyone else who had died trying to stop the invasion. He remembered Ian, listing off the names of the fallen. He remembered Bonks, who saved his and Mitch's lives and paid with her own.

"Don't worry; I'll be fine. And besides, aren't you supposed to help people you care about?"

Seto ignited a fire in his hands, and willed it to grow toward the barrier. _This one's for you, Bonks._

The fire met the barrier and spread outward in a perfect circle, destroying everything in its path. They watched, mesmerized, as the line between dome and sky lowered, until it dipped behind the Netherrack peaks just beyond the spawn area.

Seto could almost feel the flames as they marched across the striped dome, leaving open air in their wake. _He _was doing this. _He _was winning the game, in a way that Julius and his squids had never imagined. And with this realization came the overwhelming sensation of being invincible.

"Seto, you can stop now. It's been a minute," Mitch said.

He obliged, putting out the fire. At that moment, all the pain and exhaustion from the magic hit him at once. The feeling of being unstoppable fled as he dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

"Seto? Are you alright?"

He looked up at the sound of Ty's voice. Everyone else had joined them.

"We saw the fire and came here," Jerome explained. "What did you _do_?"

"Seto destroyed the dome surrounding the arena using magic so we could escape," Mitch said.

"We just have to see if it's completely gone," Seto added, getting to his feet. "I think it is though. If it wasn't, we would know by now."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!" Adam exclaimed.

The full group of eleven started toward the edge of the arena, with Adam leading the way.

When they reached the strip of soul sand, the barrier was gone. Grassy hills lay just beyond the point where soul sand met grass, and mountains rose up behind them.

"It worked!" Mitch cheered. The group dissolved into a mess of delighted screaming and hugs, with Seto at the center.

"Everybody, calm down!" Adam shouted. "There'll be time for celebrating later. We have a long way to go and not a lot of time before the squids start chasing us. We should go into the mountains, where they can't follow. And then"—a slight grin spread across his face—"we can celebrate."

The group strode confidently over the soul sand and into the grass, toward the mountains in the distance.

* * *

><p><strong>There will not be another six-month hiatus. I promise. <strong>

**Please leave a review; it shows that you care!**


	14. VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR's NOTE

**Hello, everyone. I can tell that you are all disappointed that this is not a new chapter. I kind of left everyone hanging after their daring escape last chapter, and I apologize.**

**The reason I'm writing this author's note is because I've kind of hit a roadblock. I haven't been able to write much, since school has started. Honors classes are very difficult. I'm also in the school musical, which has three-hour rehearsals, and I'm auditioning for the girls' choir, which I have to spend a lot of time practicing for. But that's not why I'm stuck.**

**There are two main factors contributing to this hiatus:**

**1. Loss of interest. I don't watch Minecraft YouTubers that much anymore, because I'm more interested in other things.**

**2. The fact that I don't have much of an idea of what I'm doing at this point. I have a basic layout for the last few chapters, but I feel like my idea now is boring and rushed. And that brings me to the reason I'm writing this A/N...**

**I want to rewrite **_**Ripples**_**.**

**I keep getting better ideas. I feel like I missed an opportunity by removing Julius from the current plotline—I'd like to give his character a little more depth, and touch on his motives (I wasn't planning on doing this until the last few chapters).**

**I also feel like my protagonists are kind of flat. If I rewrite, I can flesh them out some more and give them some actual personalities and voices.**

**I also want to deconstruct the whole "them vs. us" concept that I feel has been prevalent throughout the story. I feel like I've been using the "HUMANS ARE GOOD AND SQUIDS ARE BAD" trope that every other Sky and Co. vs. squids fanfic does, and I don't want that.**

**But the final decision is up to you. If you guys want me to finish this version (even though it would take a while and this one is not that great), I'll do that.**

**I've set up a poll in my profile. If you vote on that, it would mean a lot. It would also mean a lot if you could leave some constructive criticism.**

**Until later,**

**breezyVocalist**


	15. POLL RESULTS PLEASE READ

**OKAY SO.**

**The votes are in, and the verdict is that I should scratch Ripples right now. So that is what I will do.**

**I'm already creating an entirely new plotline that I think is way better than the one I was writing. I'm going to start from an earlier point on the Ripples timeline (which in the current version begins in the summer of 2014—I will be starting the new version in the spring of 2014), and have five different POV characters instead of just one. I will be leaving the old version up, but I will no longer be working on it.**

**I hope to get everything in order and start writing by December or January. However, because of school, theatre, and choir (I GOT INTO THE AUDITION-ONLY GIRLS' CHOIR EVEN THOUGH I'M A FRESHMAN SOPRANO CAN YOU BELIEVE IT), it may take longer than that, especially since I have six major . I'm super excited to begin the new version, and I hope you all will want to read it!**

**Until later,**

**breezyVocalist**


	16. IT'S TIME

**wow is this still relevant**

**To those of you who haven't given up on me: hello, and merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.**

**If you haven't read it already and you're interested, the new **_**Ripples **_**is up and running. I've been working on it for the past four months and I think the first chapter is pretty good. It would be really nice if you all took a look at it, considering that I worked so hard on it.**

**Merry Christmas,**

**breezyVocalist**


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